These Are The Moments
by Fllay Alster
Summary: The sequel to Wide Open Spaces. Nessie and Jake have been apart for fifteen years after Jake could not raise a daughter that was not his. His blind son, River, is doing well but no one knows his true inner turmoil. Will Nessie and Jake ever be together?
1. So far

_This is a **Sequal** to my previous **Wide Open Spaces **story. Feel free to read the first story OR you can start by reading this Recap of the events that went on in Wide Open Spaces. I recommend reading Wide Open Spaces first because it is a bit of a rollercoaster and even though it is 75 chapters long, each chapter is short and sweet. If you would like to just start here then go for it. I've worked really hard to make sure this recap covers everything! ^^_

_Here is a recap of the story Wide Open Spaces. Thanks for all the support._

Nessie decides to run away because she wants to have a normal life—at least a bit of a normal life, so she hops on a bus to the next town and takes a train to the city. On the train she discovers that a 30+ stranger I recording her with his laptop. She nicknames him Chuck and stealthily steals his laptop. She gets off the train in the City and goes directly to West Bartlett High School where she will pose as a 14 year old student.

Edward and Bella are both shocked and hurt by their daughter's disappearance. They try to track her down but come back with nothing and realize that Nessie is too smart to be tracked and when she wants to be found she will be found. Jacob is crushed by the news that Nessie has run away and is thrown into despair at the loss of his best friend.

Meanwhile, Nessie has taken up residence at West Bartlett High School. She sleeps in the teacher's lounge and showers in the locker rooms. The cafeteria assures that she will never go hungry and the endless stacks of books in the library keep her from finding boredom. When nightfalls Nessie remembers that she still has Chuck's laptop and decides to find out why Chuck was video taping her.

Nessie discovers that Chuck's real name is Kalan Tenbrook. He is a professor and was orphaned as a child. His laptop contains documents on vampires and werewolf's. Nessie surmises that his parents must have been killed by a supernatural creature and that is why he had his eyes set on her. Vendetta.

While on her way to the cafeteria to get something to eat Nessie finds herself drawn to a large window. The moon has captured her attention and she reaches out for it. She doesn't know why her heart is aching for the moon but she needs to get closer to it. Suddenly Nessie is overcome with an unfamiliar sensation that makes her skin burn and she find herself in the cafeteria's freezer, ripping at slabs of bloody meat. She then turns to run to the showers, her body on fire.

Nessie discovers that all the commotion was caused by something she had never thought about—menstruation. The next time she glances in the mirror she is no longer looking at a slender little 14 year old, she sees a mature and lengthy adult. It turns out that male Halflings gradually grow into their mature bodies in 7 years while the females take only as long as they need to until they get their period and they change instantly.

Jacob still sits at home in La Push moping over Nessie's absence. He has flash backs of their time together.

Nessie spends the rest of her money on new clothing for her new body and is depressed to be broke. She dumps her old clothing in a park garbage and leaves in search of Chuck when she finds that he was in contact with a publishing company. She won't have him exposing her family. When she arrives she finds that he is being roughed up by a couple of skinhead vampires and Nessie does the best of her bluffing to scare them off. She accuses him of having something they want but he is oblivious. When she discovers that he is crippled and needs and cane to walk she feels guilty and decides to stay and help him incase vampires come around again.

Jacob turns to his mechanical skills to try and take his mind off of Nessie but all he can do is think of her and their memories together. He turns on the radio for a distraction and comes across and strange news story about an animal breaking into West Bartlett High, eating raw meat and a girl named Vanessa Black missing. He is convinced that the little monster who ate the bloody meat was his Nessie and he takes off for the city to find her.

Kalen reveals to Nessie that he is a warewolf—unlike the shape shifters—and went to Forks to look for more of his kind. His kind changes into their beast-form when there is no sun or no moon in the sky to govern their animalistic behavior. He tells her that when he was disappointed by no finds, he left town. He saw Nessie acting strangely on the train and wondered if she and him had anything in common.

Jake hurries to the next town on foot in his wolf form. He discovers that he is being followed by the only she-wolf, Leah. She claims that she needs to get away and want to help him find Nessie. Jake finds her behavior strange as she does not try to pass him on the run as she usually does. He claims that she smells strange. When they make it to the train station Jake notices that Leah is distraught over something. She tells him that she fears that her wolf side is more powerful then her own will and she fears doing something she regrets. Jake comforts her and tells her that he has her back and they board the trains and head for the city.

When they make it to West Bartlett High Jacob and Leah break into the school accompanied by a small group of school children that are hoping to see a monster. Leah manages to scare them off and Jake picks up on Nessie's scent in a locker. And finds her coat, Jacob is ecstatic that he has found his first clue.

Leah and Jake go down to the girl's locker room to look for more clues since that was where the police had found Nessie's boots. When they come up with nothing they head to the cafeteria for a last attempt at more clues. Leah becomes melancholy again and Jake demands to know that is up. Leah's eyes glass over and she attacks Jake with a kiss. He manages to pull away and accuses her off being in heat. When Leah's eyes look sheepish he starts to laugh at discovering Leah's secret.

Leah scolds him for laughing and she bursts into tears. She reveals that she is afraid she already did something horrible. She mated with Sam in her wolf form and tells him that the strange mess that Jake picked up on, on their run was pheromones. Jake is angry at Sam for touching Leah and tells her to go home, not to morph and wait for him to get back so they can deal with this.

Nightfalls again and Nessie is on the top floor of Kalan's condo, on the patio. She is staring at the moon once again, feeling its pull. She reaches for it. Her desire for the orb in the sky is short lived when she is interrupted by the break in of the two skinhead vampires who have returned and brought a third. They are back and have discovered that Nessie is not a vampire. They begin to search the apartment once more, looking for something.

Jacob searched near by for Nessie but soon loses her scent. She wanders into a park and sits down on a bench, full on angst. He was sure that he would find her, he was so empty without her. He smells her… he looks around franticly and comes back to a garbage can in the park and finds inside is a bundle of Nessie's clothing.

Fear fills him but the moon soon distracts him and his heart feels the moon pulling him. He soon finding himself running towards the moon at full speed, he scales a condo building, trying to get to it, reaching for it. Suddenly he realized that it wasn't the moon he was being pulled towards. He glances in the window and discovers Nessie—a lengthy enchantress being assaulted by a vampire. Jake crashes through the window and tears the vampires apart.

Nessie and Jacob share their first kiss and soon head back to Forks with Kalen so that he can find out more about his kind and get some answers. Nessie reviles that she is jealous of Leah and Jake and worried that Jake might end up mating with Leah when she goes into heat. Jake explains to Nessie and Leah is no longer aloud the phase when she is in heat and that he'd never betray her.

When they return The packs are snarling and barking at each other when news breaks that Leah and Sam had been together. Seth had found out about the incident and told Emily to repay Sam for hurting his sister.

Sam beat Seth up and the two packs are fighting. Billy ends the fight and Jake takes Nessie home. When they wake they find a very serious Edward and Bella standing infront of them and they demand to speak to Nessie alone. Jake allows this and goes back to the res to check on Leah.

Edward and Bella inform her that Aro had a child of his own and wishes that Nessie would wed his young son, Foxworth. He threatened all of them and promised that if their children wed that Nessie would be safe. Nessie refuses but when Edward tells her that he personally threatened Jacob she agrees that she will marry Fox.

Nessie breaks up with Jake over the phone and tells him never to see her again. Jake doesn't believe his ears and hurries to Nessie and promises that he will do anything to make them okay again, he just needs to know what he did wrong. The entire family caves and agrees to stand behind Nessie and Jake. Jake professes his love for Nessie and the two share a kiss.

Edward hears Nessie's thoughts and finds out that she was thinking of making love to Jacob. He begs her to wait until marriage. Nessie considers it but makes no promises. Edward is confident that she will listen to his advice.

Jake leaves once again to check on Leah's state and finds her sitting at the kitchen table at the Clearwater's with Charlie's gun. She is going to kill herself. Jake pleads with her not to do it. Leah feels alone and used. Kalen talks her down, telling her that she is too young, bright and beautiful. He reveals that he knows that she is pregnant with Sam's child and tells her that things will get better. He admits that he tried to kill himself once before and that's how he hurt his knee and why he needs a cane. He regrets the attempt and tells her that she will too.

Leah reduces to tears and hands over the gun and Kalen comforts her.

Jake returns to Nessie and finds that she is trying on clothing that Alice brought her. Then Cullens all went to feed since they have been Black-eyed for a while. Jake is enticed by a sexy red dress that Nessie was wearing and looks at her like he has never before. They make love.

When the Cullen's return they gather around the table and wait for Carlisle to complete a pregnancy test that should determine whether Nessie is pregnant even at this early time. Edward is very angry and threatens to kick Jake out. Instead Nessie leaves with Jake to stay at the Clearwater's. Everyone is relived that Nessie is not pregnant.

When Nessie and Jake return to the Cullen's to gather her things they discover that Edward has redecorated Nessie's bedroom to accommodate Jacob. More storage space and even a bed for two. He tells her that he still doesn't approve but refuses to lose his daughter over it. Unfortunately the happy reunion is shortly lived when Aro shows up with Fox and takes Nessie away to Italy. Foxworth had put a spell over Nessie some how to make her only have eyes for him.

Months pass and Jake remains in despair. Kalen and Leah share a secret relationship. A dark feline-like woman shows up in town and tells Jake that Nessie has a message for him to give up on her. The woman's name is Kat and she is Foxworth's twin sister. Jake takes this as a sign that Nessie needs him and he and Edward take off to Italy to get Nessie. She would have not sent Kat if she wasn't thinking right.

Meanwhile, Nessie finds herself getting increasingly jealous of the women who Fox has coming in and out of his life. She lashes out at him and in the heat of the moment the two make love.

Jake and Edward start their journey for Italy to get Nessie back.

Fox tells Nessie that they don't have to be miserable together. They are practically royalty, they should act like it. He takes her out to meat a friend, Alsario, who owns a boutique. Alsario is a fabulous, fashionable vampire who hits it off with Nessie from the start. Nessie expressed to him that she wants to be someone else. He tells her that he can make that happen and gives her a sexy new look. Fox takes her out to a club where they dance the night away and act as if they were a real couple on a honeymoon.

Nessie returns home from her night out to find Jacob and Edward waiting for her. She is stand-offish. She goes to her room to be alone and has a mental breakdown, destroys her new dress, jewelry and cuts off all of her lovely long hair.

Nessie goes into a coma which we later find out is due to the blood that Fox was feeding her. It was poisoned with his blood to make her addicted to him. But Fox's venom had poisoned Nessie since she didn't produce her own venom—being a female—she did not have the antibodies to fight it.

Jacob takes Nessie back to Forks and brings along Fox so that he can give them venom to try and make an antidote with. Fox surrenders his venom and Jake scares him off.

They return to discover that Seth had imprinted of Fox's sister, Kat. Kat doesn't have anywhere to go so she is determined to stay with Nessie for fear that Aro will try to kill her as Alice had predicted.

Leah and Kalen move in together.

Nessie wakes from her coma and agrees to marry Jake to make sure that no one can claim her other then him. She decides that she will do this her way and has a very untraditional and wildly inappropriate wedding ceremony.

Nessie and Jake share a few ups and down over the next few days. They have a blissful Forks honeymoon and then their first marital spat. Nessie, Jake, Kat and Leah all head down to the beach for a sunny day with the pack. The boys play soccer while the girls enjoy the sun. Seth is awkwardly staring at Kat. Leah convinces Kat to wave at Seth whispers renders him speechless.

Misty is playing in the water and the tot takes a tumble. Injuring her head. Rachel—Jake's sister—performs CPR and saves her life. Sam is angry that Leah wasn't taking better care of Misty and threatens to take her away from Leah. Kalen meanwhile returns and forgets that it is no moon and changes into his beast form and almost attacks Nessie. Kat phases into a form of a black wild cat and attacks Kalen. Leah ultimately takes Kalen out with a tranquilizer gun and locks him up until he changes back.

Kat takes off to be by herself and Seth finds her. The two bond over cliff diving and Seth even manages to get a dance out of her when he hears music coming from across the lake.

Seth, Kat and Nessie are forced to embark on a little road trip when they discover that Kalen has taken off to protect Misty and Leah from his beast form. Nessie manages to convince him to come back to town and Leah and Kalen are reunited without Leah even knowing that he had left.

Edward has had enough of Nessie and Jake being too comfy in their simple and unproductive lives and tell them to pack up and leave with the Cullens to go to school in another town. Nessie refuses and the Cullens all leave her and Jake behind in La push where Nessie and Jake must try and make a life for themselves while under Billy's roof with Paul and Rachel as well.

Nessie finds herself becoming sick and passes out while at work at the local B&B where her and Rachel work. Jake takes her to see Dr. Keller and they discover that she is pregnant. Jake wants to do good by Nessie so he secretly buys them a small little house to work on while they wait for the baby to come.

While at a father's day celebration, Jake lets it slip that Nessie is pregnant. Also a distant Clearwater relative returns. Her name is Eli and she is Chester Clearwater's—Harry's brother's—adopted daughter. Eli seems to get along with everyone despite having been picked on for her white complexion as a child on the res.

Nessie, having no maternity clothing borrows Becky's baggy shorts from a box in the closet and discovers al old love letter in the pocket.

It appears that Becky and Eli both has a massive crush on a boy named Tristian and Becky has kept a love letter from Eli that Tristian had written to her.

Edward has a change of heart and returns to Forks with the Cullens to try and make amends with Nessie. Months pass and Nessie becomes more and more pregnant and a bit annoyed at Jake.

Unfortunately Jake receives a phone call and discovers that his father has a stroke and later dies. Hurt by his father's passing, Jake becomes distant and absent minded. Him and Nessie leave a kettle on the stove and their little house burns down, sending Nessie into labor. Carlisle is able to stop the contractions and Nessie and Jake move back in with the Cullens.

Jake gets bad news that the bank is threatening to take Billy's house from Rachel and Paul so he goes to talk to them and discovers that Becky is in town because her and her husband split. Jake is angry to discover that Tristian is also in town and it appears that Becky may have left her husband for the boy that Eli and her fought over.

Nessie finally gives birth to twins. Something shocking happens. It appears that only one baby belongs to Jake and the other belongs to Fox. It had laid dormant inside of Nessie until it could leach off of another life form to support it. As a result Jake's son is very weak and frail while the daughter fathered by Fox is strong and growing. This development tears the family apart and forms two new sides.

Nessie, Edward, Bella, Jake and Emmett against Esme, Carlisle, Jasper, Alice and Rose.

Nessie names her son with Jake after Billy; River William Black and her daughter, Emma, for Emmett who sacrificed so much for their safety.

Nessie, Jake , Bella, Emmet, the twins and Edward leave town. Jake decides to go back to Forks when he is worried that River and takes him to Carlisle. Carlisle confirms that River is blind and that is the last straw. On Jakes way back to Rachel and Paul's Jake discovers Eli and Becky arguing in the woods and it becomes apparent that Tristian was never the object of Becky's affection. It was Eli.

Jacob gathers his family and pack and tells them of the situation. He agrees to stay in La Push with River. He told Nessie that she is welcome to come live with him but she cannot bring Emma. His heart is broken and Nessie is destroyed but he knows that there is only one way to keep his son safe from harm. He has an obligation to keep the future pack leader safe and hope one day that he will be cured of his blindness.

_**I want to thank all of my subscribers and the people who have commented on my story over the years. Your feedback really fuels my chapters and I do read every single comment you send my way. Thanks so much.**_


	2. The beginning

Jacob's POV

I cannot believe it has been so long since I have see Nessie. I have talked to her on the phone from time to time when I pass it off to River. She has kept up with my ultimatum for all these years in regards to visiting our son. She doesn't bring the other child she had with Foxworth. She punishes me for my decision, though. When she visits River, she stays with Charlie and I am not aloud to be there. When I pull up the car, River gets out, follows the string, tied from the mailbox to the house and goes inside.

Sometimes Edward will be standing on the porch, glaring at me, silently. Picking my brain, as he knows it drives me crazy. As the years have gone by I have felt more and more uncertain that I made the right choice. River is so strong and his blindness hasn't gotten to him once when it comes to others. He is still as social and friendly in school as any other kid.

I do not know what I would have done without my family here to help me. We live in my father's house with Paul and Rachel as well as their daughter, Penny. She is about seven but she has that whole wise thing going for her and sometimes when she says something I feel as though my father is looking out from her eyes.

Everything changed so much. Misty is almost out of high school and Emily and Sam have a kid. They finally scrapped together enough money to try artificial insemination and had one boy who has managed to terrorize the res since his early years, Jesse. He is a year younger then River but he is so tall like Sam that he looks like he could be 20. Leah's fears of Sam forgetting about Misty once he had his child with Emily went right out the window since—in comparison—Misty is an angel and Sam's favourite. I think it would have drove Emily mad if Misty wasn't Emily's favourite too.

I pull up in the driveway of our house and sit in the truck for a small while. Nessie has been on my mind a lot this past week. I called her phone to arrange the next time she was coming to see River and she still hasn't gotten back to me which has lead me to believe that there is something wrong. I look at my cell phone and see no new messages and I flip my phone open again and sigh. I finally go for it and dial Edward's number. I wait as it rings and I am about to hang up when I hear his voice.

"Jacob," he replies bluntly and waits for me to speak.

"Is Nessie, there?" I ask him and wait for a reply. He isn't replying.

"She has no desire to talk to you. Is this regarding River?" Edward asks.

"I called her about him and she hasn't gotten back to me-."

"Have you thought that it might be because she doesn't want to talk to you? You turned your back on her, what do you expect from her?"

I stay silent, I suppose so, "can you just tell her to call River, please?" I ask.

"Goodbye, Jacob," Edward mumbles and hangs up the phone. I hate him. I get out of the truck and head into the house.

"Hey," I smile seeing Rachel and Penny sitting at the table working out math problems. River is sitting at the kitchen island with a brail book and his ipod on and is completely oblivious to my presence. "Hello, son!" I pluck the earphone from his ear and put it back. He is such a teenager, I shake my head.

"Hey, Dad," he chuckles and fixes the ear phone when I put it back. He is going to be 15 tomorrow. I was expecting that Nessie would visit soon at least. She hasn't missed one birthday.

I take his ipod and turn it down a few notches, "aren't you supposed to have super sonic hearing? You don't need it this loud."

"Did you ever think that I could hear you and was just ignoring you?" River smirks, his eyes aren't focused on anything so sometimes it's hard to tell who he is talking to but usually his smart-assed remarks are geared towards my parenting.

"In that case carry on," I smirk and sit down at the table with Rachel and Penny. I pull the box of Smarties I had in my pocket from lunch and eat a few. "What are you working on?" I ask Penny. I clear my throat and cough a little; working at the dame coalmine has earned me a pretty nasty cough.

"Division," she replies with a sigh, "why can't we just use a calculator?" she asks and I smile at her response. Exactly what my dad had once said when I had complained about school.

"I know, soldier through," I tell her and drop a few Smarties on her work sheet, she smiles at me and pops them in her mouth.

"Jake!" Rachel scolds me for giving Penny candy, "Penny, go brush your teeth and get washed up for dinner," Rachel says, glaring at me. I give Penny a high-five and watch my niece run up the stairs. "Don't give her sweets, Jacob. I am trying to teach her healthy eating habits."

"She is a kid, let her have some candy," I mumble at Rachel's ridiculous over-parenting. "I gave River candy all the time and look at him, he is a bean pole."

"Well Penny is not a bean pole. I don't want her to become a statistic and she is already one of the biggest girls in her class. I'm trying the best I can with packing her a healthy, low-calorie lunch and making sure she is involved in lots of sports. I can already see that she is heading down the same road Dad was on."

"Rachel, lower your voice, she'll hear you." I whisper, "look, she is seven years old and she isn't in any danger of having a stroke."

"She gets his behavior from Paul, he eats big bags or Doritos and nothing happens to him or any of you wolf-boys," Rachel huffed and went to check on dinner.

"Jealous?" I grin and watch her look back at me with a scowl. I hear the phone ring and quickly jump up and grab it. "Hello?" I say desperately wanting it to be Nessie.

"Put River on," she whispered and I hand the phone to River, feeling loads better to just hear her voice.

"River, your mom is on the phone," I tell him and he grabs the phone putting his ipod down.

"Hey Mom," he says with a smile which quickly disappears, "what's wrong?" My head perks up when I hear my son's concern and he leans against the wall and nods. "No I understand, if you can't make it you can't make it," River whispers, he looks disappointed but something else in his face makes me worry. He nods, "Yeah, I understand. Okay, I will… Soon," River listens a while longer. "Love you too," he hangs up the phone.

"What'd she say?" I ask and watch his face for clues.

"She can't make it for my birthday. Something has come up," he replied and went back to his brail book.

"She tell you what came up?" I ask feeling a sickened worry for Nessie. I watch River shake his head 'no' and goes back to the book.

The rest of the night I find myself absorbed by thoughts of Nessie. She is in my mind always but in a longing way. This is different now; I feel my stomach screaming at me to go to her. Something must be wrong. Why would she just not show up to River's birthday? I find it almost to be 2am—three hours before I am supposed to get ready for work—before I find sleep. My dreams, as always, take me back to her.

_I am on the beach in La Push. It is a sunny day and I know that it is in years past because the sun has not shown a single day since she left. I look down the beach and I can see Nessie standing there, kicking pebbles with her big, clunky, black boots. Her shredded acid wash American Eagle jeans are hugging her slender legs and that loose white summer tank top is dancing against her body in the wind._

_I run to her as fast as I can but my legs are heavy and with each step she slowly turns away and walks off further down the beach. Her slow and steady pace drives me mad as she continues to get further and further away even though I am running with all of my might. I look down at m feet to try and see why they are no longer moving al all but by the time I look back up Nessie is just a speck in the distance. My eyes sting with tears and I look back down at the floor and see Nessie's rosewood locks of hair slashed on the beach, blowing away with each gust of wind._

"_Jacob," Nessie whispers._

I wake up and feel my heart thumping and my eyes damp. I get out of bed and glance at the clock. I haven't slept for more then ten minutes. My heart aches and I get up from my bed and go to the window. The moon is full and my arm stretches out to it hopelessly. I yearn for my Nessie and I don't know how much longer I can hold off being away from her.

_Nessie, I miss you so much._


	3. Pebbled paths

**River's POV**

I'm sure Mom had a good reason for not coming home for my birthday. I know that something happened between my dad and her years ago that made them decide that I would be better off raised on the res. I've asked her before why she doesn't move back here and she usually says something about wishing she could and then quickly changes the topic. It's all I've really been able to think about today. I guess one perk of being blind in a schoolroom full of seeing-folks is that the teacher cannot really tell if you're daydreaming. Ray can however and he gives me a poke and I continue working on typing out my history paper.

I only attend some classes here a couple days a week and then I go to Forks High School as they actually have blind studies. Ray is the assistant assigned to me from Forks HS.

I complete my paper just as the bell sounds and I sit and listen for the classroom to clear our before I stand up. I only made the mistake of getting up first once. It was my first day coming to a school not only for the blind and I was pretty much trampled.

Ray explains to me my assignments for the weekend and then says goodbye. I follow the wall to the 3rd grader's classroom. The elementary school was closed down after it failed inspection so all the little kids ended up here. The older kids get out of class at 3pm sharp while the younger ones are dismissed at 3:30 pm to avoid problems in the hallway.

I wait patiently and then feel Penny's hand hook onto my elbow and start to lead me down the hall, "Hey, kid," I smile. She doesn't say anything until we get outside without the hallway chaos.

"Did you here my mom and dad talking last night?" she asked in a distressed tone.

"I try best not to eavesdrop, my super sonic hearing gets me into trouble—why?" I feel another heavy conversation coming on… literally.

"Mom wants to send me away to fat-camp," Penny huffs and I hold my lips together, "River, it is not funny!"

"You're right, I'm sorry," I let out a small chuckle and hope that Penny does not lead me into traffic for that. "Paul won't let that happen," I promise her.

"My mother is very persuasive," Penny mumbled and I think about the concept for a tad bit.

"Why don't you just go then?" I ask and she stops. "Hear me out, your mom will be off your case, you'll get to leave this place for a summer and you'll make some friends there who are not from around here."

"You mean friends like me?" she asked with sourness and I have never heard from a seven year old. We start walking again.

"I don't know if you're fat or not, Penny, you're talking to a blind man," I remind her, "don't listen to what others are saying. You have a beautiful soul, a good head on your shoulders and a really awesome older cousin who thinks you're the coolest kid in the world," I ruffle her hair. She must have grown a tad cause I smack her forehead first before I reach her hair. I know that Rachel has this whole big health-nut complex. Apparently it is all due to my late grandfather's health problems that finally killed him. I think that it was also the reason my grandmother died. Dad said she was in a car accident but Rachel mentioned before that she had a heart attack behind the wheel—who knows.

I hear the pebbled road behind us being beaten by two loud, running feet, "hey chunky, pull back the blubber-curtains—you're blocking the sun," Jesse Uley yells and I feel him knock into Penny.

"Ouch! Don't pinch me!" Penny yells, her voice all strained.

"Jesse, you son of a bitch, don't you have anything better to do then pick on little girls you loser!" I yell at him and hear him laugh as he runs off.

"Shove it, Rover!" Jesse alternate between calling me Rover and Forest.

"Jesse, I am going to kick your ass!" Misty yells from down the path and I force Penny to stop even though she is pulling on my arm.

"I'm so sorry," Misty says and I can feel her close to us now, "you'd think that turning 14 would have made him mature an inkling but no luck on that one. Don't worry, Penny, I'll make sure that my father finds out and he'll wish he didn't mess with you."

"Why don't you all just leave me alone! I don't need your protection!" Penny drops my arm and takes off down the pebbled road.

"Penelope!" I call after her for her rudeness to Misty. Sometimes I forget that Misty and Jesse are siblings. Misty Clearwater is Sam's daughter with Leah Clearwater. She lives in the big house a few steps away from the school with her mother and her mother's boyfriend Kalan who is with oober rich professor guy who apparently really got under Sam's skin lately—according to Dad. Kalan got Misty a brand new car as an early graduation gift. Sam had been working on fixing her something up that he found in the dump. Apparently BMWs beat out dumpster-cars.

"Don't worry, I know where you live" Misty chuckled and took my arm and started leading me back to my place. Of course she knew, we've been over at each other's houses our entire lives. It's just kind of weird now because I am a sophomore and she is a senior when you're eight and ten the age difference doesn't really seem to matter but now the entire dynamic of our relationship has completely changed.

"How's the new car working out for you?" I ask with a small grin and hear a pause.

"Yeah… that's kind of been the gift from hell. Everyone is all walking on eggshells about it. I'm almost afraid to drive it," she said. "Everyone thinks that I am going to need it I guess… they all think that I am going away to college in the city."

"Aren't you?" I ask and listen for her to reply but she doesn't so I have to prompt her, "Misty?"

"I haven't told them yet but I haven't applied," she whispers.

"Misty!" I cannot believe that she didn't apply for college.

"Don't judge me!" she defends, I guess I better not—at least until I feel the front porch of my house. "I just—I've always said that as soon as I am finished school I'd have so much more time for things. Things I want to do like take a road trip or climb a mountain or paint a huge mural. Everyone should get to do those thing," she says and I can feel her eyes on my face. I must have made an expression. "River, I didn't really mean it in that-,"

"Misty, I am blind not indolent. I have dreams too, yes some of them involve someday being able to see but I'm not going to hold my breath."

"I feel like an idiot," Misty admits and I smile.

"Well I'll just cross that off my bucket list then—_making intelligent people feel stupid,_" I snicker.

"Har-har," Misty says and I step up onto the porch. I don't know how I know where the steps are. "Hey, this conversation is just between you and me, right?" Misty asks and I nod. "Good… make sure that Penny is alright and I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Misty says and I nod again.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later," I go inside the house and do not take more then two steps into the kitchen before I trip over something heavy that is sitting in the middle of the floor, "ouhf," I hit the ground.

"Shit, River, I'm sorry," my dad says and quickly helps me up. I feel the it is a suit case that I can tripped over.

"Going on a trip?" I ask him. So now both my parents are abandoning me on my birthday… nice.

"I'm going to find your mother. There is something wrong and I am going to find out," she replies and leads me to a chair and I feel him examine my head, looking through my hair for cuts or scrapes.

"Stop, I'm fine," I push his hands away, "what am I supposed to do when you're gone?" I ask him and cross my arms.

"Rachel will be here and Paul… if you want I can call Becky and Eli and have them stay here while I am gone?"

I sigh, "just do what you want."

"Is there something that is bothering you? You seem cranky—it's not like you," my dad says in a calm voice but I can hear he is annoyed with me.

"Nope," I get up and go to my room. I kick the laundry basket out of the way when I smack my foot on it. I guess I am bothered, for me to do anything spontaneous it takes three weeks of planning. I'll never be able to up and leave without notice, climb and mountain or pain a mural—whatever that is. I might as well just sleep maybe tomorrow I will feel more positive.

**More drama ahead. Please leave a review! **


	4. Back home

Nessie's POV

"I kind of feel like this was all for nothing. All the hiding and protecting Emma. I don't know what else Jacob would have expected me to do? It's not as simple as giving a baby up for adoption when that baby is supernatural," I talk to Emmett as we stand around Emma's bed.

They found us. Aro found us and I don't even know what possessed him to look. Fox is apparently dead and now Aro is out to exterminate Kat too. He called his children freaks of nature and does not wish to continue the breed. So he is killing them off like insects. He poisoned Emma and now we're waiting for her to die and it is making me sick inside.

I keep on remembering this one conversation we had years ago when she was begging me to let her join one of those silly beauty pageants. She must have been 9 or 10 years old. A girl at school was teasing her because Emma had no crowns for her beauty while the other girl had thirteen. I told Emma that beauty pageants are for girls with no inner beauty who have to rely on their faces to get noticed. Emma told me that she didn't want to join to win, she wanted to join because the girl who was teasing her seemed like she needed a friend and no one ever played with her because they thought she was stuck-up.

I couldn't understand why Emma would want to be friends with someone who teased her but that is just how she is. She thinks she can make the world better one smile at a time and everyone adores her for that.

Emmett is quiet and then I hear a loud bang and see he has punched a hole in the wall. He leaves the room. Emma opens her blue eyes and frowns.

"What was that noise?" she whispers and runs her hand through her long blond curls. A few strands come out in her hands and she sighs, "great."

"Nothing" I mumble and sit down on her bedside, taking the strands from her hands so she won't have to look at them, "are you thirsty? hungry?" I ask her and watch her shake her head. She hasn't eaten in days. I still can't believe that this happened. I don't know how they found us and I sure do not understand why they would choose such a cruel way to try and kill Emma.

"Come on, pack your things up," Mama comes in the room and I look up at her.

"Why, Bella?" I call her by her first name out of habit now. Both her and Dad. We've been moving around and the story always seems more convincing if we're brothers and sisters. It took me a long time to stop slipping up and calling them Mom and Dad in public. People would look at me strangely and I would just say 'I was being sarcastic'.

"Edward convinced Carlisle to look at Emma and see if there is anything he can do for her," Bella says and pulls the blankets closer up around Emma.

"If there is, do you think he will help her?" I ask, "it's not as if he hasn't wished that she was never-."

"Don't say that," Edward said coming inside of the room with a bag and started tossing clothing in it for Emma. "Carlisle took a vow to help anyone medically without discrimination."

"Jacob will flip his lid if he finds out that I brought Emma to Forks," I reply and help Edward pack up Emma's things.

"Who cares what that son of a bitch thinks?" Edward mumbles and kisses my head, handing me a bag for my stuff, "pack up we're leaving right now," he says.

After I finish packing our stuff into the car Bella and Edward drive ahead up Emmett and I. I stay in the back seat of his jeep with Emma and try to make her comfortable even though driving is not helping her condition. Inside of my purse is the syringe with what is left of the poison they stuck her with. Edward said that Carlisle agreed to try and identify what it was. I just hope we make it there in time.

"Sorry," Emma whispered and I look down at her face, which is cradled, in my lap. "I'm apologizing ahead of time if I get sick in your car, Emmett."

Emma hasn't been able to keep anything down. Food or blood, everything has been coming up and I have managed to give her some water so we'll see how that goes.

"Don't worry about it," Emmett says, he looks distraught over Emma's condition. We all thought that we'd never see the day any of us would die and now Emma's death is at our doorstep and we're all losing it. "Just let me know if we need to pull over."

I look down at Emma's face, she is pale and her skin is hot and sticky. Her blond locks are falling out, mostly at the back of her head so she hasn't realized how much and I am relieved that she cannot see it. "Do you want to sit up and have some water?" I ask her and she carefully moves to sit. I support the back of her head with my hand. She must have lost 30 pounds in this last two weeks. Her face is so sunken in it scares me.

We drives for a few more hours and we are getting closer and closer to Forks, Washington. I look down at Emma who's breathing is shaky. I can tell that she is trying to keep the water down I had given her earlier.

"Emmett, pull over, please," I push the passenger seat forward and help Emma get out of the jeep. I look up ahead and see the Fork's sign through a thick fog on this gloomy day. Edward and Bella stop their car and turn around to come back to us. "Come on," I help Emma out and support her weight, "it's okay, breath some fresh air," I whisper but my hopes to have her walk it off are dashed when she doubles over and loses all the water she had been managing to keep in. I feel hot tears sting my eyes because I feel hopelessness start to really sink in, "Emma," I whisper looking at the horrifying tinge of blood that she vomited out with the water.

Everyone was surrounding us in an instant. My arms trembled so Emmett picked up Emma so I wouldn't drop her. I walk away from the crowd down the road a bit because though I had brought Emma out her to let her breath I can hardly fill my own lungs with air. I feel a few sprinkling raindrops land on my forehead before the downpour really starts and in an instant I am soaked. I look back at my family. Emmett has Emma safely back in the car and they're all watching me with concerned faces. I wrap my arms securely around myself and start to walk back to the car. We hear a car start to rumble down the road so Edward turns on the lights to Emmett's jeep so it doesn't hit Emma.

I start to walk slowly back to the Jeep when I hear wheels screech to a holt and my head turns wearily to see who has stopped. My heard squeezes tightly in my chest when I hear a family voice from behind the fog, "Nessie."

"Fox?" I move quickly into the fog and throw my arms around him, "they said you were dead, they poisoned you!" I hug him tightly and his arms lock tightly around me in return. Even after all these years I am still addicted to his scent. He always keeps himself looking so sharp in a suit.

"They told me about her," he said, "I had to live, find away to be cured," he said against my hair.

"Cured? There is a way?" I ask and feel my breath catch in my throat but am caught off guard by the sound of a second set of wheels screeching to a halt.

"Nessie!" Fox's arms lock around me tighter when I see Jacob get out of the car and come towards us. Jacob's eyes suddenly narrow when he sees Fox and Jake lets out a soft growl from his throat. "Foxworth… I should have known that you would have something to do with this when I heard Nessie's voice on the phone."

"Once again, Jacob, you have no idea what the hell is really going on-," Fox snickers almost.

"I don't have time for this! Schedule yourselves a cockfight for another day!" I growl at them and push Fox away from me and go back to the Jeep and pick up Emma and quickly get her back to Fox's car. Edward tilts his head slightly, trying to pick up on a thought from Fox but he looks disappointed. He told me before that all he hears is static with Fox. Emma, he hears nothing.

Fox gives Jacob a small smirk and goes to his car and opens the door for me. I glance back at Jacob and his eyes are on my ailing daughter. He walks over to me, "She's sick?" he asked as if it was impossible. As if he evil spawn he believes her to be is no capable of being sick.

"Poisoned by the volturi," Foxworth says, "Aro has been over thrown," he says and my head snaps to him.

"I thought Aro ordered us all dead," I reply.

"No… Aro has overthrown, the new leader…. Raphael," Fox mumbles the name while rolling his eyes, "wants anything related to Aro dead," he said, "that puts only Kat, myself and Emma at risk," he says.

"That's why I came here, to warn Kat," he said. "She told me about Emma and I asked her where you were and she said to check out the surrounding cities… good thing I didn't need to," he said. "Come on… we have to get going, she's in bad shape," he said looking in the car window at Emma.

I get inside the car and watch Jacob's eyes looking at me. I turn my face, my heart aches for his arms to wrap around me but I can't think about that right now.

**Thanks for all the comments I love hearing from you guys. I have the best readers on the internets! I always find it helpful to understand your reaction to the chapters because it influences future plot lines! Thanks guys :D**


	5. Visitors

River's POV

I lay down on my bed after getting up to get a glass of water. I am too tired to change out of my day's clothing. It takes me a long time to finally get to sleep but I manage. My mind had been heavy with thoughts of my mother and father. They never did tell me why they split up when I was a baby. My father always told me that it was complicated and even so they both loved me. It sometimes felt like the explanation was not good enough. I asked my mom once and she told me it was because dad made her choose and she said that she knew I would be loved either way. I don't really know what she meant by that but every time I see her she always hugs me tightly for so long like she is trying to stamp it in her memory.

My body feels heavy when I hear the tapping at my window and I know it must still be night. I press the button on my alarm clock and I hear an automated '1:15am'.

"Who's there?" I ask as I get out of bed and go to my window.

"It's me," Misty replies in a hushed voice, I recognize her voice and I slide the window open and help her inside.

"Aren't you too old to be climbing through my bedroom window?" I ask. "You don't have to whisper, my dad left town, Paul is patrolling and Rachel sleeps like a rock."

"Happy Birthday," she says and grabs my hand putting a small object inside of it. I feel around trying to figure it out. It feels very smooth like ice but it is in no way cold.

"Thank you… what is it?" I smile, I guess no one ever finds a need to wrap presents for me.

"It is a wishing stone," she replied, "found it at the bottom of the pond and I polished it up for you," she said enthusiastically. "Well… try it out."

I chuckle at the silliness of the notion that wishing on some pebble that Misty found in the swamp was going to make my dreams come true but I humor her and close my eyes tightly for dramatic effect. "Nope," I open my eyes, "still darkness," I smile, "thanks anyway, I'm sure it's a very pretty rock," I reply and shuffle it around in my hand.

"Come on," Misty laughed, "you have to make a wish within reason. Do you really expect a wishing stone to cure your blindness?" she asked me.

"It's a wishing stone, I made a wish—how is that unreasonable?" I ask her with a smug undertone.

"Make another wish," she demanded.

"Fine… I wish I were deaf too so I could be spared the horrors of having to listen to Mr. Borris's history lectures."

"That's not funny, River," Misty said flat toned. "Your dad has spent so much time with Dr. Cullen trying to find a cure-."

"I think everyone around here takes my condition too seriously. I have been blind my entire life… Here's a wish… I wish that everyone would stop trying to fix me," I reply.

"You think we're trying to fix you?" she asked.

"Most of the times. It's either that or I get pity. Even you—do you really think that you'd be climbing through my window if I were a normal 100% guy with 20/20 vision? I'm harmless, right?" I reply and shuffle the pebble into my other hand. Misty is silent and I know it is because I am right.

"You think you know everything, River Black," she finally replies, "don't you?"

"I know a lot," I agree with her, "not a lot to get distracted by."

"See… you always do that! You go off on people about treating you differently and then you say something like that."

"Like what?" I frown.

"Like 'not a lot to get distracted by' you're blind so you don't get distracted. You can't call people out on feeling bad for you if you keep on bringing up the fact that you're blind," Misty sounds a little disgruntled at me.

"It's a big part of my life… excuse me if it comes up from time to time," I mumbled knowing that I am guilty of using it to my advantage.

"You want to be treated like a normal guy?" she asks as if she is posing it as a challenge.

How the hell am I supposed to answer that? Uh, yes please? Luckily she observes my expression and begins to speak again.

"The fools from my class are having a party on the beach. Want to come?" she asks me.

"To a party? On the beach? Like loud music, beer and rowdiness?" I ask. It doesn't really seem like my thing.

"I can understand if you're too blind to go," she challenges me and I feel myself raise my brow.

"Fine lets go," I head to the door.

"Nope… out the window," she says and I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"What for? My dad isn't even here," I reply and go to the window. "It's not like Penny would rat me out." I put my hands on the window sill and swing my leg outside and search for a place to set my foot on. I pause… how will do this.

"What's wrong? Too blind?" Misty asks and I can hear the smugness in her voice. She is _trying_ to make me give up and come back inside. "Don't look down," she chuckles and I sigh.

"Har-har," I mumble and move out the window more resting both of my feet on a ledge where the side panel of the house met with the next panel.

"River," she sighs and she grabs my arm, "come back inside, this is stupid. I was trying to make a point."

"And now so I am… backfires are a bitch," I say and pretend to wobble, "wooaaah."

"River!"

I laugh at her worried voice, "gotcha."

"Idiot," she says sounding pissed, "get back in here right now!"

"Fine," I laugh at her and move my foot back up to go back inside the window, "you know I would have managed to get down there, right?"

"You'd have broken your neck in the process," Misty said pulling my back inside. Once back in my room I struggle to get my footing and fall down, smacking my shoulder on my nightstand.

"Ah, shit," I hiss and feel Misty kneel down beside me.

"River, I'm so sorry, I thought you had your balance," she said and paused for a long time, "oh my god, your shoulder," she said, her throat all tight-sounding.

"Yeah, it hurts, does it look bad?" I ask.

"Dislocated," she said with a trembling voice, "we have to go to a doctors," she said. "Doctor Keller is going to be so pissed at me for letting this happen."

"Misty, it's not your fault, I fall down all the time," I reply as Misty helps me up. "Dr. Keller won't available at this hour, we'll have to go to the Forks ER," I reply.

"Charlie is going to kill me," Misty huffed.

"Fine we'll go to Carlisle's," I reply as a last resort, "you can take your fancy car for a spin."

"Fine… lets go. I'm so sorry, River," she said guiltily and helped me down the stairs to her car.

**Drama! More to come! review please!**


	6. Truth and lies

Jacob's POV

I stay at a distance from Nessie and Fox as they gather around Emma. I feel like I am watching another family. Nessie is still my wife and it makes me sick to watch Fox wrap an arm around her since it is my job to comfort Nessie.

"When will we know if it worked?" Edward asked and I looked to Carlisle who is unusually quiet. I feel like Carlisle and Edward are having a mental conversation. Every now and then Carlisle will shake his head and look to Edward. I want to know what is going on in their heads.

"Fox said that it should start to get her back to normal by morning," Carlisle replied, "I can't see why it wouldn't work… she is already starting to look better."

Alice, Jasper and Rose all left when Emma arrived. The only one who stayed with Carlisle was Esme.

"The antidote is actually a poison too. The poison that was given to us was meant to mimic the antibodies that keep our venom from poisoning our own bodies. That is why when I was poisoned my antibodies did not recognize the poison as a threat. By administering this poison it actually attaches it's self to the poison that the volturi gave us and then the antibodies kill off both," Foxworth explained. "In the meanwhile the cold cloths on her face will keep her from getting too overheated from the treatment," Fox explained. Emma's face was covered in cool white face cloths with just a space for her mouth and eyes.

"Of course both Nessie and Emma, being females do not produce venom and therefore I had to inject Emma with a synthetic antibody. The same that I gave to Nessie when she was in a coma years ago," Carlisle replies.

I cringe at the memory of Nessie being in that coma. I'd sit by her bedside and pray all night for her to open her eyes but it wouldn't happen.

"Lets… we'll let this work," Carlisle said leaving the room, Edward followed and looked back at everyone and they all got up and left the room. Nessie watched everyone leave for a moment and then got up to and went into the hallway. Fox looked over to me and I lightly growled but followed the group out to see what this is about.

"Aro has been over thrown, there is no reason why you should fear Emma," Edward said to Carlisle. Esme looked to Carlisle and then back to Nessie.

"She is my daughter, she is not evil," Nessie snarled.

"That was never the concern, Nessie," Esme spoke up, "the concern was the Volturi coming to collect and our family being caught in the crossfire."

"That's stupid," Bella stepped in, "they think that Fox and Emma are both dead. They probably don't even know if Kat exists."

"Bella is right, the threat is gone. If you ask me it was all for nothing," Edward said to the group but he was looking at me as he said it.

"Lets not forget what that _thing_ did to my son," I snap back at him, "the son you hardly know," I look to Nessie and watch her face contort.

"I resent the way you try to make me feel as though I chose Emma over River!" Nessie finally bursts out at me, "The truth is that you kept him from me because I refused to abandon my child. What if the circumstances were reversed and it was River who had thrived inside of me and Emma who nearly died? I would never ask you to toss him away." Years of frustration, anger and pain was finally coming to a head and the entire room was tense.

"The choice should have been clear," I reply and watch Nessie fume even more.

"There is no choice! She is my blood—my god, Jacob! All I wanted was for all of us to be a family and to be happy. You had to have it your way. How could I have ever thought for one moment that you and I are soul mates on any level!" Nessie shakes her head and her words feel like sharp little stabs to my gut. I look around at all the faces who are just watching me. "How could you have changed so much?"

"How could I have changed?" I whisper, "Nessie, you're the one who changed. The Nessie I knew would have never chosen another man's child over our love."

"Yeah well the Jacob I knew loved me unconditionally and didn't hate me for something that is beyond my control. You're so unreasonable!"

"Oh, I'm unreasonable?"

"Yes!" Nessie said and pulled her hands up to her front and twisted off the wedding ring which I was surprised she had kept on till this point. "Here, take this piece of crap pebble and choke on it!" She said chucking it at me. The custom made moon-stone ring I had given her bounces off of my chest and I wince at her words. Nessie turns and storms off back into the bedroom.

"You should go," Edward said, his voice much calmer then I would have expected. It makes me wonder what Nessie had been thinking as she flipped out at me.

"I'm already gone," I grumble and pick up the ring and put it in my pocket and then head out the front door. I close the door behind me and glance up at the headlights pulling into the drive. At first I think it is one of the Cullens because it is a BMW but then I see Misty get out of the car.

"Misty, what are you doing here?" I frown.

"Whats Dad doing here?" River got out of the car on the other side, holing his arm.

"What happened to you?" I ask and go to look at his arm but he turns from me so I can't touch it.

"He says it's dislocated," Misty said, sounding guilty.

"I tripped," River said. I glance back to Misty and then to River.

"Where?" I frown.

"My bedroom," he replies.

"I see," I glance at Misty then mumble to River, "you and I need to talk."

"Oh, jeez, it is soooo not like that," Misty sighs. "Is Carlisle there?" she asks and we start back towards the house.

"Yes he is but I think I can pop the punk's shoulder back in," I mumble contemplating how I am supposed to give _the talk_ to a blind kid. I was kind of hoping that all this stuff might be more delayed due to his condition. Lord.

I open the door and watch the kids go in. I keep my hand on River's back, leading him in, "Carlisle!"

"River," Carlisle says warmly and then tilts his head seeing the obvious discomfort in my son's shoulder, "Dislocation, I see."

"Told you," River says in Misty's direction.

"They way you were belly-aching it should be broken," she said and sticks her tongue out even though he cannot see her. She forgets, I guess.

"What happened?" Nessie says suddenly coming around the corner and goes to River.

"Mom? I thought you couldn't make it… wait… what are you and dad doing in the same place at the same time? Who else is here?" he asks speaking so quickly that I almost don't catch what he is saying. He gets that speed-talking thing from the Cullen's.

"We're just talking," I mumble and look at Nessie's glare.

"Unbelievable," Fox speaks up, "he doesn't know, does he."

"Who's that?" River asks.

"Stay out of it, Fox," I snap at him.

"Ah!" River hisses when Carlisle pops his shoulder back into place. "Thanks… what don't I know?"

"Nothing, we're leaving. Misty, take River back to your car and-."

"STOP!" River yells and I am not the only one to jump, "Tell me the truth. If you use my handicap as an advantage to keep what ever secret you are keeping then I swear to god I will never forgive you for it… that goes for all of you."

"Fine," I sigh and look at all the eyes staring at me, "River you are not an only child."

**Thanks for all the nice comments, guys. ^^ I really appreciate hearing your thoughts.**


	7. DNA questions

Nessie's POV

I rub the small circular indent left around my ring finger. Years and years of wearing his ring has left my hand feeling naked. I never took it off because I ever thought that it was really over. I always believed that Jacob would see the light and come back to me but it just never happened. Even now a part of me hasn't given up hope. That would be the irrational part of me. Everyone can see that it is really over.

I am just waiting for Emma to wake up again. She is holding her food down and the colour has even returned to her skin. River took the news of Emma's existence better then I ever expected. Though the last time I saw him was two nights ago when we told him about Emma. I didn't mention to him about how she existed because of him but I suppose that Jake has filled him in on those details and that is why she has not come back to see me.

The tension between Jake and I is not all that is boiling over in this house. Rose and Emmett are pretending that neither one of them exist. Alice and Bella have been arguing nonstop and Edward… I guess he's probably the only one who is glad to be back. I don't appreciate being somewhere where I am not welcomed but Carlisle and Edward seem to be having a lot to talk about these days.

"Mama?" Emma whispers and I smile at her.

"Rise and shine—we thought you were going to sleep forever. Are you hungry?" I ask her and watch her smile. Her cheeks barely puff out because they are so sunken in.

"I could eat a cow," she mumbled and I am so happy to hear her say that, I could cry.

"I'll get you a cow then," I smile and look over to the bedroom door to see Emmett standing there smiling at her.

"Hey, you… a cow you say?" he chuckled, "will you settle for very rare stakes?"

"Fiiinnnne," Emma joked with a pretend sigh. Emmett came inside the room, kissed her forehead and left to get her something to eat. "What was all the yelling about the other night?" Emma asked and I bite my lip. I was hoping she hadn't heard all that.

"Uhhh," I watch her curious face, I can't really keep much from her now that everything is out in the open. I was really hoping I could avoid this thing forever.

"Nessie," Emma says with a slightly interrogating tone to her voice.

"Alright, I don't really know how I'm going to say this so I guess I'll just say it. Your father turned up," I mumble and watch her eye brows lift up curiously, "his name is Foxworth," I explain and watch her chuckle.

"That's a bit of a silly name," she smirks, "carry on."

"We call him Fox."

"Oh… alright," she accepts the name so I move on and shake my head at her.

"Remember how I was telling you that the Volturi poisoned you because of a vendetta. Well it turns out that the vendetta was about Aro—your grandfather—was over thrown. He was the hot shot leader of the volturi," I explain, Emma's jaw is slacked to the side. "Don't look at me like that—there is a reason I didn't tell you! Last thing I need is you walking around here thinking you're some kind of princess of the Volturi."

"No, you'd rather I walk around a bastard child with no clue of where I came from," Emma lashes out for the first time I have ever seen in my life. Her has immediately goes to her forehead and she looks dizzy.

"Emma… this is too much for you, I knew I should have held off."

"Nessie! Just… never mind… tell me everything. I need to know this."

"Nessie," Edward is at the door shaking his head, "this isn't appropriate, don't you dare tell her what you and Jacob were fighting about."

"Who is Jacob?" Emma looks even more confused.

"Dad," I sigh and look between the two, "she has a right to know, Edward," I mutter but I wish that I didn't have to tell her that she was never supposed to exist. How she was a parasitic birth and caused her brother's blindness. It wasn't her fault for the circumstances of how she came into this world. If Jacob would have stuck around with us he would have grown to love her and this wouldn't even be an issue. Jake could have learned a thing or two from Chuck.

"You couldn't have expected that from him, sweetheart," my father picks my brain and I feel violated and at the same time envious. What I wouldn't give to look inside of my daughter's mind right now and know what she is going through or what she is thinking. Even Edward can't get past the barrier and into Emma's mind.

"If you don't tell me then I'll just ask Emmett," Emma throws _that card _onto the table smugly. Emmett has never been able to say no to Emma. It is why I am glad that Emma is a good seed. She has not interest in riding motorcycles or hotwiring cars like I did.

"Yeah, I know, right," Edward smiles at me.

"Prudishness must skip a generation," I smirk and narrow my gaze.

"Bella! They're doing it again!" Emma yells out into the hallway, complaining of our internal conversations. I sigh and look at my daughter and figure that the best way to explain how and why this all happened was to show her. I look to Edward for a moment as if I need his permission. He doesn't move, doesn't even nod… but he doesn't stop me. I press my palm to the side of her face and show her everything. Starting from the day I ran away, falling in love with Jacob, my addiction to Fox, marrying Jake, becoming pregnant, the birth of my children and then Jacob leaving me to protect River. By the time I am finished I open my eyes and look down at my daughter. Her eyes are full of tears just teetering of the edge of her lids, waiting to drip down.

"I ruined your life… didn't I?" Emma whispered and I gasp at the notion I never meant for her to read that from what I showed her. I open my mouth to comfort her but she turns her back to me, lying on her side.

"Come, Nessie," Edward pulls my arm and we leave the room, "she needs to be alone."

"You don't know that," I whisper as we go into the living room, "have you magically started reading her and Bella's mind?" I shoot at him and put my hands to my face, "god, what a mess I have made! You were right… I shouldn't have told her anything."

"Oh good, she knows. That breaks the ice a bit," Fox says coming into the room and walking up beside me, I smack him hard on the back of his head, "idiot!"

"Ow! Hey! What was that for?" he scowls.

"That's for taking off like a coward!" I snarl at him.

"Excuse me, if I knew you were knocked up I wouldn't have left!" he mumbled.

"I wasn't at the time, genius, it was a parasitic pregnancy. Apparently your spawn was waiting to attach it's self to a health embryo," I explain and watch his face twist.

"What? Is that even possible?" he asks doubtfully.

"I only had sex with two people in my life, Fox," I roll my eyes at him.

"I believe that but the entire concept that our embryo would be waiting for a specimen to come around is a little sketchy if you ask me," Fox replies.

"Yeah well, Fox, no one is asking you," I hiss at him.

"So there is no hardcore proof that the child really belongs to me then? because nothing has really caught my attention to make me think she belongs to me," he says and I slap his head again but this time with more force.

"Does the blonde hair and blue eyes get your attention?" I yank on his ear.

"First of all, stop that! Second… you've gotta be kidding me if you think that blonde hair is the paternity deal-breaker," he muttered and I shake my head.

"Prudishness skips a generation," Edward whispers and I glance at him strangely.

"What are you even talking about?" I ask him weary of these games.

"We don't know how our species DNA operates. How traits are passed down to generations," Edward says, the gears in his mind must be just spinning. "Look at Fox, Aro has hair black as coal and I assume his mother being Brazilian would be the same. Yet he is blonde haired and blue eyes while his twin sister Kat is a brunette with brown eyes."

"It is physically impossible for two people of brown eyes to have a blue eyed baby," I explain, "the gene is too dominant."

"Perhaps for human babies," he whispers. I feel as though my entire world has shifted. Could Emma have belonged to Jacob this whole time? Or is this just wishful thinking?

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	8. Let them eat cake

**River's POV**

"How long are you going to keep up this silent treatment?" my father asks me. I hear him set a bowl down in front of me at the breakfast table but I am not hungry.

"I'm not giving you the silent treatment, Dad. I am just not feeling very talkative and my arm is bothering me."

"Well maybe you would be more carful if you didn't have girls climbing in and out of your window at all hours of the night," my father replies quickly.

"It was Misty, Dad," I reply and crack my knuckles at his content heckling over that.

"Stay away from Misty Clearwater. The last thing I need is Sam at my throat if you start fooling around with her," Dad mutters and I cringe at the thought. Everyone knows that Sam is a loose cannon when it comes to Misty.

"I have an exam, I have to go soon," I reply, with Penny going away to camp today Dad has to take me to the res school instead of Penny who has been a good little leader all year round.

"You have plenty of time, River. You and I still need to have a chat," He reminds me. Oh god, this is going to be awkward. Maybe I can weasel my way out of it by going to visit mom tonight. I still want to get to know Emma; I cannot believe I have a sister. Everyone has been telling me that she leached off of me and that is why I am blind but maybe it was just a coincidence that I was born weaker then her. Who knows… the point is that it was 15 years ago and things have changed and I want to know what happened between our families.

"Penny, don't give me that look, young lady. This is for your own good," I hear Rachel huff as she comes down the stairs with Penny.

"This has nothing to do with my own good, you're just embarrassed by me, admit it," Penny says and I hear a small silence fill the room. I wish I could see their faces so I would know what was going on better.

"This has nothing to do with embarrassment, this is about health and right now you are teetering between the overweight regiment and obesity. I don't want to have to be one of those mothers who are always worried about their children having insulin on them!"

"You don't want to be one of those mothers who have to buy a size year-10 for their 7 year old daughter," she snaps back.

"Penny, come on… she's trying to help," I try to offer some encouragement.

"By sending me to fat camp, right?" Penny's voice is strained.

"It's called exercise camp, Penny," Rachel huffs, "stop calling it that."

"Aren't you going to say anything, Dad?" Penny shouts.

"Penny, just… try to be a good girl and don't fight us. We're doing what is best for you," Paul said, it sounded like a line that Rachel has written for him to say.

"The bus is going to be here soon," Rachel said, "we have to go if we're going to make it down."

"River will take me," Penny said grabbing my arm and pulled me from the table. For a little seven year old the girl had some muscle on her meaty little arm.

"Uh… okay," I reply and am dragged outside, "steps," I remind her and she sighs leading me down the stairs carefully.

"They're so frustrating," she complains me, "it's like they're always trying to change me and mold me into something that I am not. River are you even paying attention?" she asks me.

"Are we going to the bus or are you leading me somewhere else?" I ask.

"Yeah right… if I skipped out on fat camp I would be grounded for life. The bus is picking me up at the res school."

"Penny, I love you, you're the coolest kid I know but your parents mean no harm by the this. They're trying to spare you from pain," I assure her and listen to her sigh.

"They're trying to spare themselves from embarrassment. If they were trying to spare me from pain they would tell me that I am beautiful no matter what others say and that it is what inside that matters," Penny said. She is wise.

"Penny, you are beautiful," I assure her.

"Says the blind boy," she mumbles and I chuckle at her.

"You sure don't make it easy for me to be nice to you, do you?" I smile.

"I'm sorry, River, I am just frustrated with them and feel like they don't think I deserve to be in this family because I happen to be a little bit bigger then the rest of the girls. You're the only one who seems to think that I'm special because you can't see what they all see. I wish you were by brother instead of my cousin," Penny said, her voice sounds like it is close to crying so I don't make her talk for the rest of the way until we get down to the bus area. I lean down and wrap my arms around her thick little frame.

"I am your brother," I assure her, "we grew up together so that makes me your brother and I will always have yours back no matter what," I assure her.

"Hey, Little Debbie!" I hear a family voice call from behind us and I groan with familiar anguish. Here we go again. Jesse that little son of a bitch, a day has not gone by when he has not open his mouth and yelled at Penny something about her weight. "I hear you're off to fat camp, bout time. Just don't break into the slop kitchen and eat everything up."

Penny stays hugging me and I hear her sob a little bit. Jesse has never made her cry before by teasing her but today Penny is feeling extra sensitive.

"Jesse, why don't you get a life you jackass," I snap at him and stand up straight.

"Hey, Patcheyes, I'm over here," he laughs from a different direction so I turn.

"You must really be a pathetic loser to pick on little girls," I shout at him, "you think this makes you cool or something?"

"What's the punk saying?" I hear another voice where Jesse is. It's one of his friends, Crowley.

"Forget it, River," Penny says, her voice shaky, "they're not even worth it."

"Why don't you listen to little Debbie," Jesse says with a smug voice, "speaking of… got you a little going away present," Jesse laughs and I hear a soft squishing noise and then something sticky hits me in the face. I quickly lift my hand up to wipe the residue away and I realize what it is. Little Debbie snack cakes

My blood begins to boil and my eyes ache and for a moment I see hot flashes of light. I turn to Penny and put my hand on her shoulder, right into a dab of cake and then I touch her hair and realize that she is covered in the chocolate deserts. I can hear her crying and I turn back to the direction Jesse is in. My blood boils hotter and my heart is pounding with anger. No one hurts my little cousin, not my little Penny. Another white flash makes my head pounds and I can make out Jesse's figure slightly. I remember the shapes of people from when I way around four, before I completely lost all sight.

Before I can even realize what I am doing I lunge at the bastard and knock him to the ground and start wailing on his face. One punch after another—each time smack him I see another flash of white light and it makes my head pound. As I throw my fists harder I begin to see a color mixed in with the white that I have never seen before.

Red… it must be… blood.

"River! River!" I hear my father's voice out of the blue and I am yanked off of Jesse in an instant. "What the hell is going on here? You can't just beat up people like that, River, you can be arrested."

"Yeah… why don't you file a report, Jesse? Tell everyone you got the shit beaten out of you by a blind kid, you pathetic piece of crap!" I yell at him.

"You're fucking crazy!" Jesse yells back at me with a nasally voice, good I must have busted his nose. I hear him run off.

"I don't care, Dad, he deserved it. Look what he did to Penny?" I tell him. Everything is black again not that I have calmed down and I feel Penny click to my side, hugging me around my waist. I try my best the scrape the cream filling and cake out of her hair.

I hear my dad groan, "Great… Sam is going to bite my head off," he mumbles. "Go back to the house, get cleaned up, Penny. I'll drive you to camp. River, we need to talk," he said sternly.

I don't even know what to say. Should I tell him about the light? Seeing Jesse's outline. Seeing red a color I have only heard about. Will I see? Does this mean it isn't hopeless?

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	9. Turn of events

Nessie's POV

I sit on the rail of the porch, outside with my right leg extended along the wooden pole while my other dangles down. I lean my spine back against the wooden banister and breath out. I can see my own breath in the chilly night air. The moon is beaming down and although it is pulling on my heart I have developed a tolerance for it's power and resist it with little struggle. Fox left to take care of some business he told me he had. He said he would be back in two or three days. I am not holding my breath.

"She still mad at me?" I ask, just knowing that my father is watching me from the door that was left ajar.

"I don't know. I can't read her," he replies and opens the door fully. "I think she is mad at herself. She told you that she thinks she ruined your life."

"My life isn't ruined, Edward."

"You can stop that whole _Edward thing _we're not at school in a new town. It's Forks."

"Habit," I mumble not even really paying attention anymore. The moon is bothering me tonight worse then it has in a long while. "You know what… who is to say that my life would be happier if I would have stayed with Jacob?"

"You know it would have been. If you say otherwise you'd just be lying to yourself," he said softly and I snap my head around to glare at him.

"If it turns out that Emma does belong to Jacob after all, no one is going to judge you if you end up reconciling with Jacob," he said and I tilt my head trying to figure out his angle. He sighs, "Nessie, despite what you believe about me, your happiness is very important to me. Do you think it has been easy watching you all these years, staring at that damn thing in the sky, longing for him? You're much stronger then I am," he said and walked over to where I was sitting and hopped up on the rail opposite of the beam I was leaning against so we were back to back.

"I'd probably judge myself if I went back to him," I sigh and hear him laugh.

"I know you would. Yesterday you both accused each other of changing… neither of you changed," he said. I exhale a long pssss sound. "You're both as stubborn as you have ever been."

"I have changed, I have children. That's changes you."

"Sure does… at least you have good kids," he mumbled and I smirked a little.

"Come on… I was a good kid," I reply.

"If you say so," he muttered. "What would you do if Emma brought home a boy?"

"I'd tell her to be smart, be safe and check for fangs," I grin and hear Edward click his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"I'm being serious, Ness," he replied.

"So am I," I defend, "Emma is smart and she is going to make mistakes and she is going to learn from them and grow. She is going to eventually find someone who makes her heart race and someday she will experience a broken heart. I can't protect her from those things but I can prepare her and I can be there for her when it happens."

Edward is silent for a long moment until I feel his hand curl around my fingers and give them a little squeeze. "When did you become so smart?"

"I've always been smart," I smirk a little and squeeze his hand back before hopping off of the rail.

"Where are you going?" he asks, sitting there still.

"I have to go make Jacob bleed," I answer, "somehow casually ask for a blood sample without letting him know I am testing his DNA against Emma's"

"Good luck with that," he nods, "want to take my car?" he asks and I shrug.

"Why not… it'll freak out all the pups to see a Cullen car on the res," I smirk a little and catch the keys that he tosses me way.

The entire ride over to La Push is nerve racking. I have no idea what I am going to say or what he will think of me showing up like this. When I pull up into the drive I am a little taken off guard by the amount of cars in the drive. I didn't realize that there was a party going on at the Black's house. The house looks so different. Paul and Rachel must have really fixed it up. I part close to the road and walk up the drive way looking at all the rust buckets of cars sitting around. I glance up at the porch and can see through the screen door. It doesn't look like a party. Both packs are sitting around the table talking calmly but jaws are clenched and fists are tight… great. I always hated Wolfy-tention.

How am I supposed to ask Jake for a sample of blood in front of everyone?

"Are you going inside or are you just going to lurk out here all night?" I hear a familiar voice that makes me smile and I turn around and wrap my arms tightly around Kalen.

"Chuck!" I smile and take a good look at him, "wow, you haven't changed a bit!" I am shocked. I suppose werewolves' reach their age capacity at about 35.

He smiles back at me, "did Jake call you about the incident?" he asked and I shake my head.

"What? What incident?" I ask with a frown, "is this about River?" Chuck looks hesitant, "if this has to do with my kid you better tell me, Chuck."

"Alright," he replies to my quick tone, "look, River go into a little spat-."

"Spat? You mean fight… River was in a fight," I feel my stomach twist with worry over my blind son and I march up the steps and swing the door open. All heads at the table turn and look at me. Jacob rises to his feet.

"Nessie, what are you doing here?" he asks. I ignore his inquiry and go to River who is also sitting at the table and I put my hands on the sides of his face and inspect him for bruising or cuts.

"Chuck tells me you got into a fight."

"Kalen," Leah sighs, "why did you tell _her_ that?"

"Shut up, Leah, this is none of _your_ business," I reply in the same tone she used with me just a second ago.

"No but it is my business," Sam replies and I glance over at Sam and the kid next to him who I assume is the 'miracle' child, Jesse.

"You did this to Jesse?" I ask River.

River sighs and nods, "yes," he replies with sorrow in his voice, possibly more to do with his being in trouble then regretting the incident.

"Good job, son," I nod and hear the entire table rally together in a grabble-grabble to sling their disgraces in my comment.

"Nessie, do you have a purpose for being here other then encouraging my son to be violent?"

"I'm sure the little punk had it coming," I mumble and motion for Jake to join me out side. He stands there for a moment and then sighs following me out. I walk down the porch and into the drive.

"What?" he asks crossing his arms and I try to ignore the movements in his arm muscles. A sudden memory of his mowing the lawn under the summer sun floods back to me and I remember the way he used to smile at me.

"I need you to do me a favor and not ask any questions," I mumble out a bit too fast then I wanted it to come out.

"What is the favor?" he asks.

"I need you to fill this vile with your blood. Carlisle wants a sample… some sort of test," I make up and watch him lift his brow skeptically.

"If Carlisle wanted blood he would have asked for it and not have sent you—what is this about? Remember, I can tell when you're lying."

I watch him for a moment and just sigh, "never mind… coming here was a mistake, forget it happened," I mutter and walk quickly back to the car but when I get there I realize I am not alone. I turn to confront Jake for following me when he leans both hands on the car, extending his arms and trapping me within his circle.

"What is it?" he asks me, his voice is soft and his eyes and prying at my will to resist him.

"I don't know how to tell you this, just…Just forget it," I feel my hands fidget with the empty vile.

"Nessie come on just-."

"Emma might be your daughter, after all," I blurt out and close my eyes because his skeptical gaze is too much to face.

"What?"

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	10. Friendly tickets

Emma's POV

I actually felt good this morning. It is the first time in a while that I have felt like I could get up and walk and just do stuff. I even managed to get out of bed and try and find some clothing. I dig through the suitcases that Nessie and Bella packed for me. I find my notebook from class and smile a little. So much for Exams. I find a pair of light cropped jeans and slip them on only to realize that they are falling off of my frail looking hips… great. I am skeletor. I grab a rope-tie belt and sinch them on and then toss on t-shirt that is usually fitted but now it is a bit loser.

"Alright… don't freak out," I whisper to my self and then step infront of the mirrow and gasp at the horror I see staring back at me. I look so gross. My body is withered away, my hair is all thinned out and my eyes have huge bags under them. So much for feeling better. I run back to my bed and jump in, pulling the blankets over my head only to have them yanked off by Emmett.

"Oh no you don't!" he laughed at me and pulled me down to the foot of the bed by my ankle.

"I don't want to get up!" I complain and huff yanking my jeans back up around my waist when they slump down to my hips.

"Why not?" he laughs and holds the blankets up above his head so I can't reach them.

"Because I look like this! I need to stay in bed so I can reserve my energy. Gain a few pounds, grow some hair—I'm not good at being repulsive looking."

Emmett rolls his eyes at me and tosses the blankets into the corner, "you're such a girl," he mumbles. "But you're in luck because your mom has instructed me to take you to the city to get you some things to wear while you recover."

"Smart lady," I reply and get out of bed and grab a hat and tuck all of my hair up inside of it and then look for some sunglasses to put on. "How far are we going?" I ask and loop my arm with him as we head down stairs. I lift my sun glasses to look at the doctor Carlisle who has been so nice to me when I was sick. "The hair thing isn't permanent is it?" I ask him and he smiles at me.

"Nah… it should grow back," he said.

"Good to know… thank you for taking care of me," I smile and hug him. He seems hesitant and then wraps his arms around me and hugs me back.

"Sure," he says and I head out of the house with Emmett, glancing over to the blond giving me a stare down from the front porch. I don't say anything to her and get into Emmett's jeep.

"What is her problem?" I ask Emmett and he sighs.

"Yeah… what isn't her problem?" Emmett mumbles. It still doesn't answer my question but I don't push as he drives out of Forks and towards the city.

"So… what is this really about?" I ask him and watch him glance to me and then back to the road without saying a word. "If mom desperately wanted to get me new clothing she would have just ordered it or taken me, herself. I feel like I am being hustled out of the way."

"Can't you just accept this shopping trip gracefully without getting all physiological about it?" he asked in a slightly weary town and turned on the radio. I turned it back off.

"Can you be any more obvious?" I sigh and watch him smile a little.

"You read people just like Edward… though you're a lot less invasive. That's why I like you more."

"I'm glad he can't read my mind. As if he need to know every fleeting thought through my mind. Might give him a heat attack." I reply and watch Emmett's brow pop a little.

"Really?" he chuckles "and we all thought you were sooooo innocent… wonder why it is he can't hear your thoughts."

"Maybe it is because I am blond… don't have many," I smile and hear his laugh shake the jeep.

"God love yah, kid… you can take a joke," he said and pulled into the drive through at a coffee shop and ordered me a large chocolate milk and a muffin with two donuts. After half of the chocolate milk was gone and the muffin with the part of a donut and I sigh.

"I tried," I admit and look to the rest of the food.

"Save it for later, maybe we should get you a pizza for lunch too when we head home," he said as I picked off some of the sprinkles from the donut and pop it into my mouth.

"I'm not going to get anything out of you, will I?" I ask him. He replies with silence and I sigh. "Fine… for that we're going to Hollister."

"You _hate_ Hollister," he complained.

"You hate it more," I grin and watch him scowl.

"It smells like a broken bottle of cologne fell into a vat of sweaty underdressed teenagers. And it is crowded," he muttered.

"I'm going to plan my shopping around going there at 12 noon and try on absolutely everything," I embellish and watch him grip the steering wheel tighter.

"You mean during the lunch rush?" he sighed.

"Yep, the line to the fitting room so going to be _massive_!" I smirk and watch his face. He huffed and shook his head. "Suit yourself."

"Drat," I pressed my lips together. That would have worked with Edward.

"If I go on a killing spree it's you're fault," he nods and I laugh.

"Sure, sure," I mumble and his head turns slowly and then his face drops as he looks at me. I lift my shoulders. "What?"

"Nothing," he sighs and lightly punches the steering wheel.

We head into the mall and do some quick shopping for clothing that will fit me for now. I don't subject him to Hollister but I do convince him to take me to a hair place to see what we can do about my thinned out hair. The stylist was quite freaked out with my appearance and told me that the only thing she could do was some extensions to weave in with my natural hair until what I lost grows back in. She told me that using extension glue would harm my hair so the weaving would have to do for now.

"Don't judge me," I point my finger at him as we left the mall.

"I just never thought that all this was _that _important to you," he said lightly flipping my hair.

"I am a girl," I say as though it was a fact and thus common knowledge.

"Really now?" he said sarcastically and put the backs into the back seat. "Maybe Alice can get some use out of these after you're finished."

"She's the tiny little vampire?" I ask and watch him nod looking around.

"What's you're problem?" I ask him and he sighs.

"I just feel like someone is watching us, that's all," he replies and I look around and then back to him.

"Paranoid much?" I get into the passenger seat.

"Yeah," he mumbled and we started to head back to Forks. The car ride is long and silent. I do not know what is up with him. Ever since I tried to pry into why they wanted to get rid of me for the day he has been acting like this.

"Can I drive?" I ask, as we get closer to Forks. I watch his expression not shift at all and I sigh, "Can I drive? Can I drive? Can I drive? Can I drive?" I ask him over and over again until he pulls over and gets out of the car and opens my door for me.

"What is it?" I ask and nearly laugh because he looks so irked. I go around to the driver's side and get in but don't start up the jeep yet. "Are you mad at me?" I ask him and he quickly looks to me.

"What? No, of course not. What would give you that idea?"

"Oh, perhaps the stale silent treatment," I watch him look ahead at the road.

"It's nothing you did."

"Something I said? What did I say?" I ask him. I don't often put my foot in my mouth but it can happen to anyone.

"Sure, sure," he mumbles.

"Oh… what did I say?" I ask him and turn on the engine.

"That was it, I just said it… it was the way you said it," he whispered.

"You're weird, can I drive now?" I ask and roll my eyes when he nods. He keeps to himself the entire ride home and it upsets me, not knowing what I did. He told me that I had said _sure_ with attitude or something… ah who knows. Sometimes vampires can get mopey. As I drive down the highway to the house I lose myself in thoughts of what it is exactly I did. So frustrating! I forget that I am actually going quite fast and when my eyes catch the speed limit sign I have no time to slow down before I hear a police siren behind me.

Emmett turns his head, "Emma…. Seriously?" he smirks a bit, amused. I feel a little better that he is amused. Not so much because I am being pulled over. I keep my fingers crossed that it is Charlie. I pull over and look into the rear view and am disappointed when I appears to be a young officer and definitely not Charlie. Probably some new cop who needs to finish off his quota of tickets for the month. I should have known when i heard a motor bike and not a squad car.

I look to Emmett who is smirking and watching me with amusement… What a smug jerk. "Roll down the window," Emmett laughs when the officer taps on it.

I sigh and roll down the window and look up at the young cop with short light brown hair and broad shoulders. I read his name tag… alright… "oh darn," I smile , "was I going a little too fast on this highway… officer Heart-Throb?" I flirt shamelessly and feel Emmett kick my foot.

"It's officer Hart-Todd, miss," he replied and took off his sun glasses, "do you know what the speed limit down this stretch is?" he asks me and I tilt my head a little bit.

"Yes… it's 25," I reply, "I just got so caught up in the beauty of the area that I wasn't paying attention, I'm sorry," I pout, curling my finger around a few locks. His stern gaze lightens up and he looks around.

"I guess that is understandable," he said leaning against the side of the car and smiled at me. I feel my heart give a little jolt from excitement that I might get out of this ticket.

"You don't really need to write me a ticket… do you? Todd… was it?" I smile up at him.

"Francis Hart-Todd," he smiled back down at me, "Frankie is fine," he said taking out his ticket pad. "Now I can't just let you go empty handed… the law is the law," he said and I hear a little ha-ha from behind me. Officer Frankie hands me a void ticket with a phone number on it.

"Oh… thank you, officer… I'll keep this handy," I grin and fold the paper but it is snatched away from me by Emmett who crumples it up and throws it at Frankie.

"Hey, officer _Heart-Throb, _she's 15!" he said. "Get back in your bike and drive the other way fast before I call up police cheif Charlie and tell him you were slipping your number to a minor," Emmett snarls and Frankie stares into his eyes for a moment and then picks up the void ticket with his phone number on it.

"Mmmhmm... miss, may i please see your learner's permit," he asks and i look through my wallet and hand it to him, he looks at it closely while he speaks, "Is this your brother?" he asks me and i shrug a little and nod.

"Kinda... but he thinks he's my dad," I chuckle as Frankie hands my permit back to me with his number tucked behind it. Oh, sneaky. I manage to slip it into my wallet before Emmett notices.

"Nice to meet you both," he says, "I won't take your permit away from you, Emma, but you have to let your brother drive the rest of the way home," he said still smiling at me. "I haven't seen you around here before."

"I'm just visiting family here," i smile at him and hear Emmett sigh again, he looks frustrated. He should be grateful, if i get in trouble for speeding so will he because he is the adult in the car.

"Really? Maybe I know your family," he replies and I shake my head.

"I doubt it," Emmett grumbled and leans forward to look Frankie in the eye. "How old are you, Francis?" he asks.

"I'm nineteen," Frankie says and he smiles.

"Then you don't want to start your career with a big fat complaint against you on how you conduct yourself while you are wearing that badge, do you?" Emmett mumbled sternly. Jeez, he is worse them Edward!

"No, i guess not," he replies with a small grin of amusement, "see you around, Emma," he says and went back to his

"What'd you do that for? He was nice!"

"I know his type," Emmett mumbled, "get out, I'm driving."

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	11. Me, myself and the rain

Jacob's POV

"What are we looking for?" I ask standing behind Carlisle who is sitting at a computer; Nessie is sitting on the arm of his chair. He brings up a screen, which to me just looks like dots.

"We're looking for similarities between your DNA with Emma's DNA. Here we can see where Nessie's traits are most prevalent," he said pointing to the screen, "Emma and Nessie share quite a few DNA markers which affect physical appearance. If you look at the comparison between you and River, Jacob, you can also see that River shares quite a few of your physical traits."

"Is she Fox's kid or not?" Nessie asks impatiently and Carlisle pats her hand lightly and brings up a second set of DNA markers and puts them next to Emma's and looks at the.

"No… Emma shares absolutely no DNA markers with Foxworth. She has quite a few of Jacob's. Looks like we were all fooled. Emma must have gotten her physical traits from Nessie. Everyone is Bella's family has brown eyes but I know that Edward did have green eyes before he was changed so I'm sure the blonde hair may have come from his side of the family too. I stare at the screen for a minute longer before looking to Nessie whose jaw is clenched tight. She glances as me for a moment and then stands up and leaves the room.

"Nessie!" I go to follow her but Edward is in my way out of no where. "Move," I demand.

"Jacob, give her some time to absorb what just happened," he said sounding calmer then I would have been if I were in his position. "Why don't you come back later?" he said. I am about to fight him on the idea but I just nod and give in. I walk to the door and step out side. It hasn't sunken in yet, any of it. I slam the door shut and walk down the porch steps. Turning back to the house, I see Nessie looking at me from out her window. She closes the curtains. I sigh deeply and walk into the woods, slowly making my way back to La Push. At this rate I won't be there by nightfall but I am not aiming to get there anytime soon.

I stop and sit down against a tree. Dad would be so ashamed of me. I abandoned Nessie and my daughter, kept the mother of my children away from our son and made all of our lives miserable because I jumped to a wrong conclusion. I didn't even give the notion that Emma might be my daughter a chance and now I have lost all opportunity to be apart of her life and Nessie's. Nessie will never forgive me for what I have done and I doubt Emma will even want a thing to do with me. River will probably be royally pissed off at me too for everything I put this family through.

Here is the truth. I though I was protecting my son. He was born so weak and sick but it was no fault of his twin sister. There was no leaching; there was no Volturi baby. I suddenly feel a pang in my stomach and I understand Sam's fears. I always thought he was ridiculous for being jealous of Kalen's relationship with Misty. He was afraid that she would never think of him as her father. I've missed out on everything and she is grown up and has no clue who I am and after all I have done and all I have not done, she probably doesn't care to. I ball up my fist and punch the side of a tree, hard. I hear a loud crackling noise. It is not my knuckles but thunder and then a soft trickle starts to fall down.

Don't have to wait long before I find myself in the middle of the forest, sitting on a log in the pouring rain. I have nowhere to go because I am torn between two worlds now. There is no definite side, which I believed there to be for all these years. It was not black and white. It is just a big ugly blob of grey.

I take a deep breath and lean my face in my hands.

"I waited for you," I hear Nessie say and I lift my dead to find her standing in the pouring rain wearing her leather coat on top of a nightgown and her big black boots with the laces all undone. I didn't hear her coming. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"There is nothing I can say. Nothing is going to make it right," I reply truthfully and watch her. She looks so angry and she has every right to be angry.

"I waited and I told myself that he would come around and eventually everything would be okay but you never came!" she said breaking down into a sob and I don't move. I just let her talk. "And then I gave up! I gave up on you and told myself it was because I betrayed you that you didn't love me anymore and that it was my fault. I deserved to be alone and it was what I got for everything I did."

"Jesus," I whisper looking up to her and the turmoil in her eyes that I never thought I would ever cause her. I stand and take a step towards her but she takes a step back, "Nessie," I whisper and she shakes her head.

"No… there is no you and me anymore," she replies bluntly and I feel my heart hurt at her words. "If you want any sort of chance to make things right between us then you are going to have to make things right with Emma."

"Nessie I," I open my mouth to tell her how much I've missed her and contemplated my decision to leave but the words didn't make it past my lips.

"What kind of message do you think that would send her if I went back to you when the reason you left in the first place was because you hate her. It would tell her that she doesn't matter to both of her parents and I could never do that to her. You hate her, I don't."

"I don't hate-."

"But you do… it is why you left. You hated that she was born because you thought she belonged to Fox. You can't just turn that emotion off."

"Nessie, it was never about hating her because of where she came from. It was about protecting River. I thought that our son was in danger. He is the heir to the leadership of the pack," I defend but realize I shouldn't have when Nessie rolls her eyes and starts to walk from me. "Nessie, wait!"

"I see you've got your priorities strait. I should have known I'd always play second fiddle to the wellness of the fucking pack," Nessie says and then stops and turns to me. "He is blind, Jacob. He won't be heir to anything remotely related to the pack," she says bluntly and begins to walk from me again and I follow, "besides it's not like you're going anywhere—the title will never be passed down. That is unless you meet an untimely death… Considering my emotions on a scale of one to ten you are close," Nessie replies spitefully.

"You ran away once too," I bring up and watch her stop and turn to me yet again.

"How long are you going to keep throwing that in my face?" she asks me, "my god, Jacob, I ran away because I was being smothering by everyone! Including you!"

"You think that it makes it better, that it didn't hurt?" I ask her and watch her face contort.

"You abandoned your daughter and kept me from my son," Nessie throws back at me, "don't tell me it is the same."

"Fine, it is not the same. The point I am trying to make is that neither of us is perfect and we have both made mistakes in our life! How long do you think you can ignore the pull of the moon, Nessie? I know you've felt it too."

"I can deal with that," she replies and I grab her hand and pull her body to mine.

"I can't… I've tried everything. I've nailed my window shut and foiled up the window. Nothing makes my heart stop aching," I whisper into her hair and then am suddenly shoved to the ground.

"My heart doesn't ache… it is broken," she whispers and then runs off and all that I am left with in me, myself and the rain.

**Thanks for your reviews. Drama is heating up and there is more right around the corner. Please leave a comment ^^**


	12. Long needed

Nessie's POV

"Why'd you do that?" I jump when I come in through the window and see my father sitting on my bed.

"We need to get you a cat bell," I mumble and go into my bathroom and slam the door. When I come out in my robe he is standing, I sigh, "you're still here?"

"You act as though there is a user manual to this entire situation, Nessie. There is no right or wrong answer to how to deal with this and now you are only hurting yourself by punishing him like this."

"He deserves to be punished!" I shout at him and watch his face stare back at me in shock for my rage, "what about _my _heart? What about what he did to _me?"_ I cannot believe that I have to defend my pain to my father who never wanted Jacob in my life to begin with. I pick up my hair brush and start to strain it through my damp locks of rosewood hair that is call clumped together from the rain.

"That's not true. I have been as supportive of your relationship as anyone here," he said, "did I have expectations of you? Yes—but this does not make me happy to see you two torturing each other for no god damned reason!"

"Don't talk to me like you understand!" I throw my hair brush at him and he moves to his side slightly, just getting out of the way in time. "I'm sorry if you can't stand my moping internally anymore, stop listening! Stop trying to fix me!"

"Nessie, what do you want from me?" he asks crossing his arms.

"Nothing! Edward, I want nothing from you and I need nothing from you. _Daddy_ can't make it all better," I retort and hear him sigh. "I should have just told Fox yes," I mutter and watch my father frown and try to search my brain.

"He just called on the way back and asked me to marry him again… as if that's what I need. Another man in my life, telling me what to do—enough to drive a girl to lesbianism. I should go hang out with Eli and Becca and settle down with a nice girl. You wouldn't 't care as long as she could wear white on her wedding day and hey—no worried about contraception!"

"I think I'm having my first headache in over 120 years," he mumbles, holding the bridge of his nose and sat down on the bed again.

"Yeah—I know. I am such a disappointment to you," I mumble and hear him growl at me for the first time ever. I jump at his reaction and he is in my face in an instant.

"Don't you ever, _ever_ assume to know how I feel about you. I love you and nothing is ever going to change that. Have there been times where I wished you would have used better judgment? Yes, of course. But I have _never_ in my entire life been disappointed of you! My god, Renesmee, I wish that someone would just tell me what I did wrong to make you resent me so much."

"You don't accept me," I reply and watch him about to defend himself but I interrupt, "I know you love me but you don't accept me. You think that I am out to disobey you to prove something but I am not. It is just _me_ being me and you don't accept that. You want me to change but I can't and I won't. This is me, I like to laugh at the world because most of the time I think it is a joke, I am impulsive and don't always think things through and I'm sorry if you believe that sex is a phase but it's not—I enjoy it… a lot," I explain and watch him cringe at my words. "We're both adults now. This relationship has got to change."

"I will never stop thinking of you as my little girl, Nessie," he replies.

"I'm sorry then. I'm going to have to move then," I reply and his face drops.

"You're running away again."

"No, I am moving out of the house with Emma, somewhere close," I reply, "this isn't working. Not anymore. If I don't do this it will destroy what we do have," I reply. "I'm going to go get a paper from down town. Find a place, maybe an apartment in Forks."

"We have a paper, here," he said as I dug through my dresser drawers and grabbed some clothing.

"I need to take a drive," I ignore his gaze of disappointment that he denies and I go to my car and toss the clothing into the passenger seat and get dressed in there before bulleting out onto the road and beat up the steering wheel as I drive. "Augh! Everyone is so fucking difficult!" I curse out loud and sigh with relief when I see a road side bar near the lake shore with a small motel where people stay when their cottages get flooded. "Yes, drinks," I grin and pull over. A guy shouts at me for taking his parking space but I ignore him and go inside anyways.

"What can I get you?" the bar tender asks and I look around the place that is almost empty accept for a few couples who look too young to drink so they sit in the corner with dim tea light candles and eat fried out of grease spotted brown paper bags.

"A time machine—Jack and Coke and do not get cheap on the lime, I want to see it floating in their like a life boat," I mumble and drop some cash on the bar.

"Yes ma'ma," the bar tender got me my drink and leaned on the bar, looking at me, "look, I am not in the sharing mood tonight so just get me drinks when I need it and if I get drunk enough I'll let you know," I wink at him and he chuckles leaving me alone. I take on gulp of my drink and look to my left when something moves out of the corner of my eye and I realize it is the swinging door to the men's room. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"What are you doing here?" Jake asks when he sees me he sways a little.

"None of your business, what'd you do? Follow me here or have you gotten too good to take a piss in the woods?" I ask him and drink my Jack and Coke.

"Whatever," Jake mumbles and throws some money on the bar and nods to the bar tender and then walks out the door, not walking straight. Oh my god! I huff and chug the rest down before heading out, after him.

"Did you follow me?" I ask him again.

"Nessie, you're not the only one who has been driven to drinking tonight so just stop it. My world does not revolve around your whereabouts," he mutters and looks up at the moon for a second and his gaze goes back to me. "Just go home," he says stumbling a little and goes to his motorbike.

"You're not driving," I frown when he looks in his pocket for keys and they fall in the sandy parking lot. He leans down and scoops them up with a couple of rocks. He doesn't look as if he could walk a straight line.

"What the hell do you care?" he asks, "probably love it if I killed myself."

"You're so stupid," I snatch his keys, "if you want to kill yourself, lay down in the middle of the road and I'll run you over with my car but _don't_ put others at danger! I'm calling you a cab, so just sleep it off on the bench over there," I mumble and pull out my cell phone and realize that all the bars are gone. "Fuck," I go to the pay phone and pick it up, no dial tone, "fuck!" I mumble a little louder and am about to open the door to the bar when the sign flips to closed, "mother fucker!"

"Dirty mouth," Jake mumbles and sits on the hood of my car.

"Shut up, get in the car," I shout at him, "I'd let you sleep on the ground but I know you can hotwire a motorbike and since I can't fit it in my car to take it with me you need to just shut up and let me drive you home."

"Ah, you still love me," he laughed at me—which pissed me off.

"Get in the car," I snap at him and yank his arm to get off the hood of my car. He seems to find this all very funny and allows me to force him to the door but refuses to get it instead he turns me so I am against the car and he is leaning over me. "Jacob, come on," I whisper feeling weary of his games and just want to get him home now so I won't have to think of it.

"I ruined everything," he whispered and I am stunned at his confession, even if it is a whiskey scented one, "I had you and I let you go," he said putting his hand to my face. I am surprised by how rough his tough has gotten over these years even though his face is as soft as ever.

"Jacob… don't do this," I whisper and he leans his head down a little, to mine.

"One kiss," he said softly.

"No," I shake my head.

"Just one and I will get in the car, I will go with you, I won't speak to you again if that is what you wish, just one," he said quietly and I roll my eyes a little and give in.

"Fine," I sigh and pull him down by his neck and stand on my toes, trying to ignore the scent of alcohol on him. I press my lips against his' but I should have known better to think that I would be able to let it end at just that. His arms lock around me and he pushes his lips back against mine, tenderly—leaning me against the glass window on the passenger side of my car. I cannot remember the last time I have felt such satisfaction, being in another's arms.

What started out as two dry lips pressed together turned into soft pecks, moist and warm. My hand ran down over his chest to his heart, where it had wanted to be every time I yearned for the moon, it is what I was reaching for all along. His heart was racing at an abnormal speed that revived the slow pace of our kiss, which took a more urgent turn, demanding oxygen from both of us. We gasped almost at the same time and my world spun.

I looked away from his face when the kiss ended. His lips trailed down to my neck and scorched me tenderly. I did not object, instead I moved my fingers into his hair and arched my back, pushing my body against his and he pushed back, leaning me flush against the side of the car. His hands moved up and down my sides as he kissed my neck hotly and then stopped at my hips. He looked up at me, my heart was beating heavy in my ear and both of our breaths were deep and shaky. His hands moved to my belt buckle and his eyes glanced into mine deeply. It was lust mixed with sorrow and in his eyes I could see the reflection of mine' giving him the exact same look.

His eyes were begging me for permission. My mind told me to tell him to get lost but my body was in full control and I nodded so slightly I wasn't sure that he would have seen it but he did and his lips were against mine in a heart beat, hungry and wanting—just as mine were.

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	13. Morning after

Jacob's POV

When I wake up the next morning my head spins for a few short seconds before I realize where I am and last night's events. I close my eyes again and try to relive the last few moments of being with Nessie. Kissing her roughly, making love to here outside, against her car—the only sound in the air was the trickle of the lake near by and the crickets.

"You're awake," Nessie says and I glance over to her, sitting in the bed, partially dressed. Her jeans were slung over the chair. She was eating fries out of a brown paper bag. The diner must be open.

"What time is it?" I ask her and sit up from where I am, sprawled at the end of the hotel bed. These rooms here look like a nightmare from the early 70's. I scoot up to where she is and look inside of the paper bag she has.

"It's early, like around 6:30 am," she replies. I grab the flat pathetic excuse for a burger.

"Can I?" I ask, showing her the small disk of fried meat surrounded in starchy bread and a few shreds of lettuce. If I am lucky, Don might have ordered cheese this week.

"Yeah, it's yours', I already ate mine," she replied. The look on her face is enough to make me hurl.

"Don't look at me like that," I sigh and unwrap the burger and take a bite, "we're both adults, we didn't do anything wrong," I mutter, talking with my mouth full. Etiquette has never been something we put too much emphasis on.

"This doesn't fix what is wrong with us, Jacob. One good night is not going to erase all of the pain and mistakes," Nessie argues and pushes a ketchup drenched French fry into her mouth and is left with a dab of the ketchup on the corner of her mouth. It makes me smile a little.

"Why are you so intent on fixing?" I ask her and brush my thumb along her lips and lick the ketchup off of my finger. "We can't fix what happened. Why don't we just start new?"

"You have no idea how good that sounds but it doesn't work like that, Jacob."

"Why not?" I ask taking another bite and hold the small remaining piece between my fingers as I listen to her talk while I chew. Perfect hang over food.

"Because, Jacob…" she sighs, holding a hand full of ketchup when her hand comes back out of the bag… she must have finished the fries. "It's not just involving us, we have to think about River and Emma."

"And I suppose your father and your ma-."

"Oh, fuck my father, he can go to hell," Nessie mutters and I am shocked.

"Woah, where'd that come from?" I can't help but chuckle a little. I in no way on Team Edward by any means so hearing Nessie of all people say this kind of makes me smile.

"Never mind… I don't want to get back into it," she replies and looks at her fingers all covered in ketchup and then glances around for napkins.

"What? You don't want to tell me?" I ask her and grab her hand and suck the ketchup off of her hand, one finger at a time. She stares at me, mesmerized for a moment.

"No not really," she mumbles. I hold her hand and wait for her to tell me, "ugh… he was all on my case about going back to you."

"Really?" I laugh, shocked at that, "Daddy-dearest wants my climbing in and out of your window, now?"

"I told him to go to hell," she replies ignoring my response. "So now he's going to be all smug and all 'I was right'-ish… like he always is."

"His big bag of _I-told-you-so's_?" I ask and she nods. I watch her face, she is so beautiful but she tortures herself and doesn't make anything easy on herself. "Why do you do that?" I ask her and she looks up at me.

"Do what?" her brow crinkles slightly and I finish off the remainder of the burger.

"Give him the power to upset you the way you do?" I ask her and watch her roll her eyes, "hey, I know you. You tell me that you don't care what he thinks but you are always upset over it. No one 100% completely gets along with their parents."

"Ha.. try less ten 10%," Nessie replies and I tilt my head, "you don't get it, Jacob, he is in my head. I wish that I could lie to him and tell him what he wants to here but I can't do that! So the only option I have is to be brutally honest and hope that it doesn't do too much damage—after tonight I know I am finished. He said give you a chance not get it on in front of the no-tell-motel against a Cadillac." I can't help but laugh at her whit. She's always so quick.

"Want to hide out here all day?" I ask her and lean in close to her, pressing my lips against her's. She doesn't kiss me back so I sigh and fall back on the bed with a thud.

"Sorry… I don't think we should just settle back into the way things were. We're not finished working things out, Jacob. I already told you that one good night…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I sigh and put my hands behind my head, "it doesn't fix everything, I know… You're still my wife, you know."

"I know," Nessie replies and the room falls silent again as we both stay still, not touching.

"Remember when Leah kissed me?" I bring up and see Nessie's head whip to look at me with a cocked brow.

"You're bringing this up, why?" she asks me and I find it cute that she is still jealous after all this time.

"You were so mad at me," I smile at her, "god, I thought you were never going to speak to me again. I asked you how many kisses it would take for me to cancel out Leah's kiss. We must have made out for a full hour."

"I don't think it was that long," Nessie replies.

"It's one of my favourite memories," I whisper and look to Nessie whose face is unreadable. "I love you, Nessie."

"Jacob, come on," Nessie sighed and got up from the bed and grabbed her jeans, pulling them on. "I don't know how I feel about you right now. I'm still pissed off at you."

"Not too pissed off to have sex," I snicker at her and watch her roll her eyes.

"Well I had sex with Fox and I hated his guts so don't count on that as a sure indicator for my affection because it is flawed—where are my keys?"

"Maybe you dropped them outside," I reply and grab her wrist, pulling her back into the bed and she lets out a little huff and gives in when I kiss her again. She runs her hand into my hair and then lets it drop to her side, looking up at me when I pull back again. Her eyes are full of tears and I feel my heart break just seeing her life this. "I'm so sorry," I whisper leaning my forehead against hers as I apologize for everything that I did wrong and for everything that tore her apart and brought these tears to her eyes. God knows how many cold lonely nights she endured while I thought I was doing something righteous by protecting River and neglecting my wife and my daughter.

She is sure to forgive me before I forgive myself… because I will never forgive myself.

**^^ Thanks for all the nice comments guys.**


	14. Sparks in the air

"The entire premise of this movie is flawed. Half way in Kate Hudson is all like 'what happens when it's time for the first laundry?'. Her entire argument is that romance is epic and not comfortable," I mumble over the movie, eating ravioli out of the can. The fork has attained a bitter metallic taste after coming in contact with the side of the tin.

"Maybe they have a laundry service," Alice replies watching Alex and Emma with me. She is the tiny vampire who seems friendly enough. It was her idea to watch this movie because the lead character's name is Emma. "Whats _your_ idea of romance? Sitting ontop of laundry machines? Sorting white from colours?"

"My idea of romance is being comfortable enough to just leave the clothing on the floor," I reply and put the can down on the table.

"What happens when you run out?" she asked picking up the can and smelling the contents before making a face and putting it back down.

"Buy more… or be naked," I reply, "Though, nudity is not an option in January."

"What is this I hear about nudity?" Emmett asks with a wary tone and glances at Alice as if it must be all her fault.

"We're discussing which parallel universe allows both romance and laundry," I explain and watch him glance up at the television screen.

"Yeah… I hate that movie anyways. I think it went right to DVD," he replied and I smile at him.

"So bitter, aren't we?" I tease and watch him scowl at me playfully and then move to ruffle my hair before pulling his hand back.

"Better not," he said.

"Wise decision," I chuckle, touching my hair mixed in with the fake locks to conceal the hair loss I had when I was ill. Though I could feel it had already started to grow back rapidly at about an inch and a half. I finished watching the movie with Alice and then went out into the garage to get my bycicle. After being informed about my recent speeding, Edward and Bella forbid me to drive. Haven't heard from my mother in a while… That's a bit strange. I grab my bike and roll it to the door, Nessie got it for me last year. I really love it, it's aqua with a basket on the front which is handy because it is big enough to fit my violin but small enough that that I can remove it off the bike and carry it.

"Where are _you_ going?" I jump when I hear a bell-like voice startle me and I turn to see the blonde vampire—who is not very fond of me for some reason—roll out from under a car with a rench.

"A ride on my bike, don't worry I won't be gone long," I reply and hear her make a pst-noise.

"Ha, like I care," she mumbles and I put my hand on my hip and give her a look.

"Hey, you asked. If you don't like me then don't talk to me. I can see why so many people congregate around _you. _You just radiate pleasantness," I flash her my best grin at her scowl and flip my hair, if I hadn't done that I would have been hit with the rench she threw at me. "Oh my god! Did you just try to kill me?"

"Would have taken more then a rench to crack your hard scull. If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have missed… What are you going to do? Tell?" she grinned at me and I grin back.

"I think I will but I'll just let it stew a little I want to go out right now," I smile again at her to show her that even her sour grapes can't make me second guess myself.

I walk my bike out to the end of the drive and then start to peddle down the road, enjoying the quietness. No cars, no city lights, just trees and birds and the occasional rodent running along side the road. I peddle down the road until I get to a crossroads and read the signs. One leads into Forks and the other goes to some place called La Push. I shrug and head down the road to Forks. I am only riding for a few moments before the road turns from a loose gravel to a fine pavement and a few cars speed by me. Not really peaceful down this way.

I turn around and head back down from where I came and this time head down the La Push road. The road continues being loose gravel and eventually turns into a dirt road. It is lovely down this way. The trees along the side of the narrow road form a canopy of green overhead, shielding from the sun—if there was a sun. Right now the only thing it is shielding me from is a light mist coming from the white covered shy. I slow down when I come to a rusty, baby-blue, pick-up truck sitting in the middle of the road. I stop completely and start to walk my bike around it since it is taking up the entire road. The road is narrow, I hope no cars come by and start honking at the guy.

"Aug! Piece of rusty shit," I hear a voice grown and a rench comes flying out from under the car and smacks me right in the knee.

"Ah! Oh my god!" I fall backwards over my bike and into the ditch.

"Oh shit! Hey, you!" I look up and see a young dark haired fellow climb into the back of his truck and jump over the other side and walk towards me, "are you alright, did I hit you?"

"Yeah! Why do people keep throwing renches at me?" I mumbled, holding my knee.

"Can you walk?" he asks, hovering over me. I look up at him and smile a little, well if I am going to be sitting in a ditch with a guy he might as well be handsome.

"I dunno, lets give it a go," I say, grabbing his hands and he pulls me up, I take a step on the leg of the knee that was hit and feel a sharp pain crank it and I hiss and almost fall backwards but he catches me.

"Fuck… great," he mumbles and picks me up easily, I am impressed and then remember that I weight like 90 pounds after being sick. "I am dead if your knee is broken—and I though I was going to shipped off to boarding school yesterday," he said I laugh a little which makes him smile. "Well, not too hurt to laugh at my misfortune—that is a good sign"

"It's just a sprain," I reply, "if it were broken it'd hurt more."

"Oh… good—I mean good it's not broken, not good it is sprained," he said and moved to set me back down on the road after getting me out of the ditch, "balance for a few seconds while I get your bike off the road," he said putting me down and I balance.

"What's wrong with your car?" I ask and watch him go back down into the ditch and grab my bike and carefully put it into the back of his truck.

"The question is what _isn't_ wrong with it," he said and I smile.

"Alright, what isn't wrong with it?" I ask.

He smiles back at me opening the door to the passenger side and leans his arms on the open window, "well… that radio works."

"Nice," I smile and start to dust off my pants, "white jean shorts are such a mistake," I mutter and turn to look at the back of them and laugh. The ditch was wet, now I look like I wet myself and I can see my panties.

"I've heard something to that effect," he said unrolling the sleeves to his blue plaid shirt and then unbuttoned it and wrapped it around my waist, knotting it at the front. I look up at him standing in front of me in just a white, ribbed tank and his torn blue jeans and no shoes. "There you go. Hang out here," he said lifting me up onto the passenger's side seat so my legs are hanging out the side of the car. "As soon as I fix this rust bucket's busted tire then I'll drive you and your bike home."

"Me and my bike thank you," I smile and hear him laugh lightly, grabbing the rench again and tries to get the bolt loose. They're pretty rusted, I can see why it is giving him a tough time. "It might be easier if you were turning it the right way… you're just making it tighter."

He looks at it and then sighs, laughing at his self, "see… I would have been here all night if I hadn't sprained your knee," he said twisting it off the correct way and it came out quite easily.

"So are you a cottager?" he asks me as he pulls off the tire and starts to place the spare on the truck.

"I guess I am," I reply, I consider this just a summer stop and once fall resumes my mother, Bella, Edward and Emmett will probably be heading to another shady northern town to enroll again. "You're local," I smile at him and he grins.

"Yeah… what gave it away?" he asks looking up at me.

"No one tosses renches like them-there country boys," I smile when he laughs.

"Or fixes tires…. Walla!" he said standing and pointed to the tire.

"Yay!" I clap my hands three times and then slap them down on my thighs only to hurt my knee, "ouch!"

"Ah, man I feel bad about that," he said tossing the old tire into the back and stood in front of me. "I'm going to have to figure a way to make it up to you. Do you eat?"

I laugh at the absurdity of his question, "Occasionally… frequently—infact I am known for it," I smile back at him.

"Good, because it is the perfect time of year for fish-fry and the Port House, by the lake, where the cottages are has a really nice view on their patio," he said.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" I ask him and watch him shift his feet a little and scratch his head.

"Well, if you want to put a label on it," he replies, looking down at the pebbled road.

I laugh at his response, "I accept."

He smiles, looking back up at me and I feel an impulse to kiss him. I don't fight it, I just give in and put my hand to the back of his neck and pull him close and press my lips against his which are bursting with a heat I have never felt on my lips before. He rests his hand on the seat next to my thigh and leans in closer kissing me back.

"Hey," I whisper against his lips and he pulls back slightly and kisses me again. I wrap my hand around his leaning arm.

"Yeah?" he asks and kisses me again before pulling away.

"What is your name?" I feel silly for not knowing it.

"Jesse, Jesse Uley" he replies and I like the sound of it immediately.

I smile at him, "I'm Emma," I reply.

"Jesse!" I hear a familiar voice call out from the right of us I crane my neck to see who is there but my view is blocked, "get this piece of shit out of the road so I can get through." For some reason I knew this voice but I cannot place it. "Make out with your little girlfriend somewhere else!" Jesse stops leaning in towards me and stands, my hand slides down his arm and into his hand and he holds my hand back, palm to palm.

"Shut up, Black, can't you see I am having car troubles here!" he replies and I smile at him for yelling back. I feel more attracted to him knowing that he doesn't take crap from people.

"How about I get out of this car and finish the ass kicking that my kid unleashed on you!" I hear a car door open and close.

"Why don't you do that?" he said standing up tall, dropping my hand. He walks to the other man.

"Son of a bitch, you're huge, growth spurt?" he asked standing face to face with Jesse.

"The wolfy kind… you thought you were out numbered before," he laughed. I don't get it. I try to see. I hop out of the car and balance on my good leg. I see the man who he is talking to. It is Jacob Black, the man my mother used to be in love with. She had shown me everything using her gift. His eyes dart to me then back to Jesse and his expression changes to a rage and before I can say anything Jabob Black socks Jesse Uley in the face. I put my hands to my face.

"Oh my god! What are you doing!" I freak out and take a step but my knee cranks and I cry out almost falling.

"Emma!" My mother jumps out of the car that Jacob Black had been in and goes to me, " what's wrong?" she asks me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask my mom and she helps me away from the two men who are know scuffling.

"What am I doing here? What are _you_ doing here? And what is wrong with your leg?"

"I was riding my bike and I hurt me knee, Nessie—make them stop!" I yell, Jacob was really pounding the hell out of Jesse.

"Jake come on, that is enough!" Nessie said leaning me against her car and got between the guys and they stopped.

"Black, you are a freak!" Jesse said.

"Stay away from her!" Jacob said pointing at Jesse. "One finger and I will kill you!"

"You have no control over who the hell I see, who do you think you are. My father?" Jesse said moving to get back in Jacob's face but Nessie pushes them apart.

"Not _your_ father that's for sure but—,"

"Jacob, get in the car, _now!" _Nessie yells, interrupting him and then looked to Jesse, "get in your truck and drive the other way… Men! MEN! I don't know why I bother. Becca and Eli are on to something," Nessie mumbles and helps me away to her car and I sigh waving at Jesse who gives me a little nod.

**Review please ^^ Sorry for the lapse in writing. I had some business to take care of. I won't get into it because it is not related to this story.**


	15. These eyes

River's POV

When Dad hadn't come home I got worried and called Misty and asked her to drive me over to Carlisle's. They didn't really seem worried at all, they said that my mother was out too so they figured that they were together. There was a bit of smugness in Edward's voice that I detected when he said that. My mother always said that my grandfather was the king of I-told-you-so's. I suppose there was something he was holding over her head.

I have been feeling odd lately. Ever since the fight between me and Jesse I have felt like I am feverish and sometimes sick. I am sort of dizzy too. I remember when I had an ear infection as a child and it threw off my balance and I was falling all over the place… more then usual.

Misty had somewhere to be and left in a hurry. Lately she has become increasingly distant around vampires… and me. I don't know what I did. As for the vampire thing… it never seemed like much of a problem in the past when Carlisle was around to check on me.

I sit on the front porch—I assume it is the front because I can hear cars drive by every now and then and it comes from the direction I am facing. I keep thinking about the colour I saw. Red. The figure—Jesse. I cannot get it out of my mind. I saw something, for the first time in my recent memory. I remember losing the rest of my sight when I was quite young but I never forgot the shapes but I had never seen colour before.

"When did this happen?" I am startled by the sound of Edward's voice from beside me. He moves quietly, even more quietly then I am able to detect.

"I got in a fight, I saw… I think I saw something" I correct myself. As the days go by I am starting to convince myself that I didn't really see what I think I saw. I wake up each morning and strain my eyes but I can see nothing.

"Do you always see flashes of light when you become aggressive?" Edward asks and I shrug.

"I don't really become aggressive," I reply. It is not something that is in my nature even though both of my parents seem like they are hotheads.

Edward chuckles, "that's why they argue, they're too much alike."

"You think they've reconciled," I state and look in his direction even though my eyes see nothing and are unfocused.

"You're very incisive," he replies, "is that a trait you get from being blind?" he asked and I shrug.

"I don't know. If I ever see again, I'll let you know," I reply, "I don't know how they do it. They torture each other and don't listen to reason. They'd make things a lot easier on themselves if they would just listen to their family."

Edward sighs, "apparently common sense skips a generation."

"Hey, Edward," Emmett is suddenly here too, "where is Emma? Lucas is on the phone for her."

I hear a car pull up to the house before I could ask who Emma was. I hear arguing from between my mother and father.

"So what are you going to tell her? That boy is an idiot!" Jacob groans.

"Stop talking like I am not here," a familiar voice mutters. I don't know how I know that voice but I do.

"What happened to your knee?" Edward asks and is farther away from me now. All I can do is listen.

"I hurt it," the girl mutters and then stops walking, "you've been in my life for 5.6 seconds, you have no say over anything I do. I don't give a damn what your opinion is. I'll see who I want to see and talk to who I want to talk to!"

"Your ex is on the phone," Emmett says in a stifled chuckle.

"What does he want?" the girl mumbles.

"So she has ex's calling the house while she is seeing that res-punk too. Seriously Nessie, good job."

"Shut up!" Nessie speaks up.

I just sit there and listen to them bicker and argue. Once again I am forgotten at the sidelines as always. It's difficult to keep up when you can't see where everyone is and who is talking to whom. I suppose my lack of aggression is more attributed to being left out. Even Misty tired of hanging out with me when all her friends were riding bikes and swimming in lakes. Penny didn't have any friends, so were both a match. I miss her so much because I haven't been able to talk to her. They are not aloud to use the phone at her camp only letters. She has been sending some and Dad has read them to me but they are just accounts of her day's activities nothing deeper then that. I suspect that she figures that my father would be reading them to me and therefore there would not be much of a point.

Of course by the time my mind wraps around what Penny is probably going through right now I think of that smug son of a bitch, Jesse, and my blood boils a little. I don't feel well again and want to go inside to lay down. I attempt to stand but slump back down in the chair.

The bickering continues until I feel two cold hands on my face, "River, are you alright?" I recognize that voice, it is Rosalie. "River, look at me." I know what she means, she wants me to lift my head but it feels abnormally heavy and I can't seem to do it.

"I can't," I whisper to her and rest my face against her cool hands, which feel good on my burning skin.

"Guys! Put a lid on it!" Rose shouts and I hear the bickering come to a halt. All their voices sound like they are in a long tube and it is echoing.

"River, what's wrong?" Nessie asks beside me.

I breathe in sharply and try to stand but almost stumble. Rose grabs my arms and before I know it I have at least 12 hands grabbing at me trying to help me stand. My heart is pounding harder then it has ever and white flashes of light make my head hammer. My breathing in uneven and a little scary. I slip into unconsciousness and it feels like I have been asleep for hours before I come to.

I have somehow made it into a bed, I don't know who's bed and I can hear people speaking around me.

"It's alright, Nessie. It's how it happens. It's sudden," my dad says softly.

"Mom?" Nessie asks.

"Sorry," Bella replies, "those memories are fuzzy."

"This is probably more similar to your accounts of maturing," Edward whispers.

"I didn't freaking pass out and bleed from my eyes!" Nessie says sharply, "did you, Jake?"

"Uh no… but look at it from this angle… it's not like he can get _more_ blind," my dad says.

"You think this is funny?" Nessie shouts.

"I'm not laughing—jeez, Ness… you're so freaking-."

"Shut up," I mumble, I am so tired of fighting. I want to go back to sleep. I turn my head and see that colour again, the red, lots of it. It covers my vision and I blink my eyes a few times until it goes away. The white light is fuzzy and I see shapes, I sit up and blink my eyes a few more times. I can't believe my eyes… literally.

At first everything is fuzzy and little flecks or sparks fly everywhere and then in an instant I see everything…. Clear and glossy. Colours I did not know existed surround me and people. A room full. I don't know who is who. A young girl stands close to me with her arms crossed as if she is inspecting me. She doesn't look like the others. Her skin is not as white but not nearly as dark as mine, I notice as I look down to my hands. Her hair is the lightest in the room and her eyes have a colour to them that I wish I knew the name of. No one else in the room has the same colour eyes.

"Are you looking at me or is this that wall-eye thing that blind people have?" the girl says and it is that familiar voice which I have no idea why I recognize. I feel myself smile. I feel like I am dreaming.

"He can see," Edward says and I look to see which one of these people his voice belongs to. It is so strange.

A young women standing next to a very tall man put her hand to her mouth. She is thin with hair that I can only describe as red but not quite as red as the blood I had seen before. The long hair curls in large loops down to the small of her back. Her eyes are dark and very large, much larger then anyone's in this room. She walks over to me.

"Baby, can you see me?" she asks, her eyes becoming glossy and she sits on the side of the bed. I smile at her.

"Mom, you're beautiful," I whisper.

I look up to everyone who has the same expression, happiness and a bit of shock. The girl with the light hair looks around at everyone's faces as well. There is something about her that makes me curious… who is she? I've counted the bodies in the room and there is one extra. She backs out of the door with a tiny bit of a limp and leaves. I don't understand. Is it something I did.

"Damn it," Edward mumbles and walks out of the room too.

"Was it something I said?" I ask my mom.

"No… he just can't get a read on her. It makes it difficult on him because he cares about her so much," Nessie said.

"Who is she? I know her," I reply, I don't know how I know her.

"Nessie," my dad says in a warning tone with a worried edge. I look to my dad. He is taller then I thought he was even though I know he is tall. His hair is pulled back in a ponytail.

"What?" I look between them.

"That's your sister, Emma," Nessie said, "we made the mistake of keeping you two apart."

"It was my mistake," Jacob interrupts.

"She was led to believe that it was her fault you were blind," Nessie explains and I frown.

"How is that?" I feel even more confused by that.

"It is such a long story," Nessie sighs.

"I'm not going anywhere," I reply and watch my mom's face change to an expression that I can identify with exhaustion and she precedes to explains everything.


	16. Parental problems

Nessie's POV

I haven't seen a sunset in a good long time and in Forks you never will. My eyes look to the horizon as I sit on the rail on the front porch by myself. The blanket of white glows red for a small amount of time and then starts to fade into blue before descending into black.

"I've never seen River so happy," Jacob says coming outside. I look to him and then back to the sky.

"I suppose it would feel something along the lines of being born again." I can relate that much but I really have no idea what it must have felt like for River.

"What are we going to do about Emma?" Jacob asks and I look to him.

"Emma is going to come around when she chooses to. You can't really force her to do anything and I am not going to push. It's a lot to take in," I reply. "She's never had a real father in her life."

"That's not what I meant—I meant about her and Jesse."

"Nothing," I reply.

"Nothing? Are you serious? That kid is a no-good-punk from the res who has spent the greater part of his life tormenting the other kids. What kind of parents would,-"

"Don't!" I shout at him, "don't you dare! You don't get to abandon us and then judge how I parent Emma!" I shout at him, "there is nothing we can do. Once Emma has set her mind then that is it. Let her get her heart broken—let her break his heart. It is out of our hands anyways, you'd do best not to waste your breath."

"So we just let her make colossus mistakes?" Jacob asks me and I sigh a little.

"Because my family's interference _didn't_ make us rebel even more?" I reply sarcastically. "Emma is gifted… like me… like the rest of the Cullens. Unlike the Cullens she is not always in control of that gift though," I reply and look to Jacob's puzzled face. "Look, you know how Jasper can manipulate people's emotions."

"Yeah… that _isn't_ annoying at all," Jake replies and I sigh a little.

"Well Emma can manipulate people's actions," I reply, "and she is getting better at it everyday. When she was young she used to accidently make people slap themselves in the face when they hurt her. A girl in school made fun of her so she made her fail a spelling quiz by filling in all the answers with curse words… that last one being an accident is still debatable," I mumble. "Boys she's liked have camped out on our front lawn… A couple of days ago Emmett witnessed her getting out a speeding ticket by charming an officer."

"Does she know she is doing all this?" Jake asks me, concerned.

"No," I answer him, "we're not telling her either. Not until we know the full extent of what she is doing. We're not really sure about how much of it is a gift or how much of it is just her personality… Hell, I've gotten out of a speeding ticket before without voodoo involved."

"So you're saying that she could be manipulating Jesse too?" Jake asks, sounding a little impressed.

"We don't know if it works on wolves," I reply.

"Does it work on vampires?" Jacob asks me.

"Everyone except Bella," I reply, "she puts up the shield when she sees that Emma is doing it again," I whisper and am distracted when I see the clouds slightly part in the sky and the moon shines down on us in a blue glow. I don't know if Jacob moved closer to me or not but he feels closer.

"Do you want to get out of here?" he asks suddenly. Our previous topic lost within seconds.

"Where?" I ask him and he shrugs.

"Anywhere… La Push?... The Beach?" he asks. I consider saying no but instead I just nod. He smiles a little and I feel my heart jump a tiny bit when he takes my hand and pulls me off the rail. "You still have your bike?" he asks me.

"In the garage," I nod and we wander to the side of the house. I hadn't noticed that we were still holding hands until he let go to get the bike and check to make sure it was okay to ride. He got on the bike and looked to me.

"Get on," he said softly and I get on the back of the bike and wrap my arms around him, leaning my head against his back as he hits the gas and we bullet out of there. There are moments when our past mistakes make my stomach turn and I cannot let it go and then there are other times—like these—when I feel like we are back to were we belong. The way things were and the way things should be.

In lose myself in the ride and ignore the fact that he is speeding so quickly that my hair is a complete mess. When we arrive at the beach, he helps me off the bike and I lean against a tree that is slightly tilted and almost dead as I pull off my boots and leave them next to the bike.

"Hasn't changed," I whisper and look up to Jacob who is smiling at me and then reaches out a hand and fixes my hair.

"Some things never do," he replies and takes my hand, leading me down the beach. The waves splash against the rocks harshly and then stops suddenly and looks around. My eyes scan the area but I see nothing but miles of beach and trees.

"What?" I ask him as he stands in front of me.

"I've made mistakes… plenty of them—in fact, too many to count," Jacob says softly to me. I sigh.

"This isn't a proposal thing… is it? I told you that we have too much to work out still," I look up at him and sigh when he gets down on one knee. "Jacob, come on—get up."

"I want you to wear your ring again," he said pulling the ring out of his pocket that I had thrown at him. He holds it up at me. I stare at it. It is _my_ ring and my hand as felt naked ever since I took it off. "I let you down in the past and I won't do it again, I promise."

"If you and Emma did not share DNA we would not be here right now," I said to him. "You left me, you left us—Emma _and_ I," I feel salty tears build up and blur my vision but I blink them away.

"It was about protecting River-."

I turn from him and walk away, "what a load of crap, Jacob. If I hear you say that one more time I am going to knee you in the-," I turn but he is already behind me, standing.

"Fine… I was resentful, spiteful, jealous," he said getting down to the nitty gritty truth of it all. "I could not stand the fact that you were carrying a child that wasn't mine, even the fact that you slept with that douche bag, Foxworth. So I left you and Emma. But I missed you everyday and I regretted it always and I had to nail my window shut at night to keep from running off and finding you and stealing you back. The real reason and I stayed away was because I was afraid of what I would do."

"To me?" I frown at him.

"To Emma… I wanted her dead, Nessie. I knew what that would do to you and I was afraid that I would lose it and… I dunno, phase and kill her. Not by accident either," he said and his eyes scanned my bewildered face, "Edward never told you that, did he?"

I shook my head feeling my heart pounding in my chest from pure shock at hearing his confession.

"I guess he was trying to protect you too," Jake says and puts the ring back in his pocket. I guess he thinks all hope is lost _now._

"I tried to push it out of my mind and I left with you and the twins when the other Cullens threw you out. It tore me up that I couldn't be a good husband… a better man. Like Kalan had been with Misty."

"Kalan didn't have a child of his own whom was thought to have caused his child's blindness… we all believed that jumped-conclusion that Emma was a parasitic pregnancy," I whisper. The pain in Jake's eyes are too much to bare and I cannot torment him anymore because I can see how much he has already tormented himself over this whole thing.

"There is nothing that I can do to rewind the clock and make things right with Emma. I don't think she will ever know me as a father. I don't think she even cares to listen to what I have to say to her. I won't stop trying to be there, though. I made a huge mistake and if I knew then what I know now…." Jake just sighs as his words trail off.

"God… when did this happen?" I sigh and Jake looks at me with a puzzled look, "when did we become screwed up parents ruining our kid's lives?" I ask and hear Jacob chuckle.

"Your dad warned us that it wouldn't be easy," he laughs, "wish I would have listened."

"God, don't let _him _hear you say that or he will present you with his big bag of '_I-told-you-so's',_"I smile.

"You know, we always say—in our childhood—that our parents don't understand. It's true, they just don't. My dad never got Rachel's live-healthy-live-strong attitude and he never really understood Becky's pain—she didn't come out until after he died," Jake said, "and he never quite got how I could love a Halfling vampire… Your parents… Bella knew at least enough to give you your space."

"Bella gave me too much space," I finally chime in after listening to Jake's observations, "my mom was never a teenager. Dad always said she was 15 going on 40, even before she was changed. I think the reason I rebelled so much is because I wanted my mother to be a mother. Guess she didn't know how, Renee was always more of a friend to Bella… My dad was just not ready for me and the fact that he could hear my thoughts must have all but killed him."

"Was it really that bad?" Jake asks.

"Imagine swimming in Emma's hormonal, teenaged mind when two weeks ago she was the size of an 11 year old with innocence intact," I reply and watch him cringe at the thought.

"He can't hear her, can he?" Jake asks.

"No… probably why she is his favourite, that and her and River are aging at a more appropriate speed," I laugh. "Give you a million bucks if you know one good parenting team who have managed to_ not_ screw up their kids."

"Leah and Kalan did pretty well with Misty," Jake smirked and held out his hand for the million. I grin at his quick name pulling and slap the palm of his hand but he catches my fingers and wraps his hand around mine'. He looks at me with a long pause, "I still love you, you know," he says and then clears his throat a little when I don't say anything. "I brought you out here to give you your ring and to show you something," he said softly and pointed over into the distance.

"See that piece of land, over past those large rocks where there is a clearing?" he said pointing and I look in the direction and not, "that piece is mine," he said. The waves hit the large rocks and then bounce back, not quite making it to the clearing.

"Really?" I am a little bit shocked, I thought he had lost everything in the fire and that's why he lived with Rachel and Paul.

"Yeah, I've been saving up, working at the mine and doing odd jobs wherever I can," he said, "I even have enough to put down for a loan to build a house there. A real house, not that little shack we got. The one that burned."

"Hey—I loved that shack," I defend and he chuckles lightly.

"This project was in the works before you came back here, I wanted a real home for River and I. I didn't want to be guests in Rachel and Paul's house forever—I know it was my childhood home and my Dad's house but it really belongs to Rachel, she has put everything she has into it."

I smile at him and kiss him softly, he is taken aback by the sudden lip lock but kisses me back and then looks at me. "You know that River really looks up to you. You're like his hero. I am a little jealous that you were able to raise him so easily all by yourself and I … well… Emma isn't as stable as River… emotionally."

"Yeah?"

"Drama queen," I sigh and Jake smiles, kissing my hair and we walk with our arms around each other down the beach towards the property.

**Review please ^^ Thanks for reading guys!**


	17. Stay a while

**Just wanted to mention how much i really appreciate you guys. I write for you guys and your nice comments really inspire me to try and turn out frequent and interesting material. I have the best readers on the interwebz and really appreciate you guys so very much.**

Emma's POV

I hardly got any sleep last night. I wanted to talk to Nessie but she was out all night again with… that man. I huff a little when I am disturbed by a knock on my door and look up to see Edward.

"Honey?" he looks in at me, "you're awake," he says when I try to fake snoozing.

"In that case, go away, I'm naked," I lie, he can't tell. Not being able to read my mind is the handiest thing ever bestowed upon me in _this_ family.

"Emma," he says in a warning voice.

"Fine!" I throw the covers off, "thought you couldn't read my mind."

"I can't, I just know you and _you_ don't sleep naked," he chuckled at the expression on my face and pet my hair. "Come on, we've gotta check up on you and make sure you're getting better," he said looping his arm with mine and leads me down to Carlisle's office where Carlisle and Emmett are sitting, talking to River… the boy who is supposed to be more half—er—full brother. I enter the room in the middle of a conversation.

"No, 220 is perfectly fine if the extra 30 or so pounds is muscle, considering that you're 6' 3". Your vision is 20/20 if not better. I am impressed by the complete turn around of your physical health within hours of becoming apart of the pack," Carlisle said.

I roll my eyes and try to leave, I'm not in the mood for all this wolf pack garbage—they all seem to want me dead as far as I am concerned.

"Emma… not so fast… on the scale," Carlisle said.

I sigh and look to Emmett who smiles at me. I roll my eyes and get on the scale and wait for Carlisle to record the numbers then jump off.

"Five days ago you were 103lbs now you're back down to 97, what's up?" Carlisle looks concerned.

"Nothing, I was menstrual," I lie trying to make them all uncomfortable. It doesn't work.

"You were mental _two_ weeks ago," Edward adds.

"Jesus Christ, is there a chart for that too?" I huff and Emmett gives me a concerned gaze.

"You're 5' 2", Emma," Carlisle says, "That's a dangerous weight to be at. Have you been eating?" he asks and I roll my eyes.

"Yes, I have been eating," I reply disgruntled and Emmett hops up off of the desk where he was sitting.

"Are you okay?" Emmett asks me and is suddenly in front of me.

"Yes! My god, why is everyone on my back about this?" I feel like I am being judged because I am not getting better quick enough. Like it is my fault or something.

"I'm sorry, we're not trying to make you uncomfortable or anything," Edward replies, "we're just concerned about your health. We almost lost you."

"Well I am fine, maybe if I wasn't under constant observation I would do better," I reply and hear a little snort from the wolf-boy, River.

"What was that? Got something to say?" I glare past the vampires in front of me.

"Just wondering how spoiled I would have been if I grew up the way you did," he replied and I felt his comment hit me in the stomach. I am many, many things but one thing I am _not_ is spoiled. I did not always get my own way and I never throw tantrums. At times I can become moody but aren't we all? This entire situation has thrown me for a loop—my mother has obviously chosen Jacob over me, this brother has learned to hate me from the man who abandoned me as a baby and the other half of the vampires here are simply tolerating me because my DNA is not that of the volturi.

"Whatever, I am too tired to fight with you," I grumble and look to Emmett who is giving River a sour look. "I'm going to get breakfast and then take a walk."

"Want me to come with you?" Emmett asked and I shake my head.

"I would really love to be alone right now but thank you for offering," I peck his cheek and leave the room. I go to my room and get dressed for cooler heather because it looks like rain. I tug on a pair of grey American Eagle sweats, a plain white v-neck and my jean jacket that Emmett forced me to buy. I am glad that I listened to him because the weather has been crap here and the jacket has a cozy lining in it.

"Bella?" I enter the kitchen and see here holding out a big plate of eggs, bacon and a cream cheese bagel for me. "Uh… thanks… actually… can I get this to go?" I ask her and she gives me a suspicious look when she puts it into a Tupperware.

"Emma… we want you to get healthy again," she says. "I'm going to strait-up tell you that if you don't start to gain more weight we will be forced to tie you down to your bed and give you a feeding tube," she said and I smile a little. "I wasn't joking."

"I know," I still smile and take the Tupperware and head out on my back down the road. My knee is a little bit better. But not good enough to ride my bike. I chew on the crunchy beacon as I head down the canapé of green again but this time in the opposite direction, away from La Push and away from Forks. I _am_ eating, at least what I mean is that I am _not,_ not eating. So much has been going on that I guess I have just lost my appetite and I know it is bad because I still need to get my weight back so my family can stop freaking out. By the time I get down the road in the opposite direction to where the road turns to sand and pebbles I gave finished almost everything accept the bagel which is a bit soggy now from the eggs that were in the Tupperware.

The canapé of green ends and I see a massive field up ahead with crops that grow low to the ground.

"Hey, you… I never got your phone call," I hear a voice from my left and I turn to see a young man who I don't know standing in the field next to a mechanical heap of green. He must be standing in the only patch of sunlight within miles. I walk to the three-wire fence to get a closer look at the guy. The light disappears and I look up as white fluff now completely covers the sky.

"Frankie," I smile, I hardly recognized him without his uniform, in his dirty blue jeans, red plaid shirt and light brown hair all messed about. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I've been busy. Family stuff."

"Oh yes, I am familiar with the _family stuff_," he smiled.

"Look! A frog!" a little mop of blonde hair popped up from behind some leafy greens. The boy looked to be about three or four years old. The frog leapt from his hands and he huffed chasing after, "come back, Mr. Frog!"

Frankie laughed, "get him, Cooper."

"He's adorable," I chuckle as the kid ran about after the frog, "is he yours'?" I ask.

"Nah," Frankie shook his head, "he belongs to my sister. What brings you down here?"

"Just going for a walk," I reply and look at the crops, "how do you get them to grow? It is either raining or cloudy?" I ask and watch a grin spread across his face.

"Black magic," he teased, "nah, I grow only a few things here, mostly salad greens, peas, beets, radishes. Pretty boring but the farmer's market likes to buy local so whatever doesn't get washed out by the rain ends up on your dinner table," he said with a charming smile. "The stuff I grow doesn't need much sun but it helps when the sun does come out."

"So you're a police officer by day and farmer by… day off?" I smile back.

"I'm just helping out my sister, this is here baby…. Both of them," he said motioning to little Cooper. "But we do have a few employees that help us out here so it's not a one-man operation. Vegetables are free so that helps too."

"You have some beautiful horses," I say and point into the next field at a black and red horse who are galloping around, "are they work horses?"

"They were supposed to be—now they're just spoiled," he says and I laugh a little.

"Do they always act like that?"

"There is a storm coming, it's got them acting up," he said

"I can tell, smells like rain," I add and watch as he puts a big tarp over the machinery he was trying to fix. He walks over to the tree wire fence and lifts the wire so I can duck under the fence.

A crack of thunder shakes in the distance. "It's going to rain, I've got to get the horses in, want to come up to the house?" he asked and I smile and nod.

"Sure," I climb under the fence.

"Come on, Coop," Frankie says, "forget about the frog, we'll catch some later," he said and the boy ran ahead of us up to the house. "Watch your step," he said taking my arm when I almost put my foot in a hole. "Some animals have got this property torn up pretty badly. Those no good mutts next door," he motioned to a house across the road with about fives dogs on the porch.

I smile up at him, it feels comfortable talking to him and even standing next to him because he is much shorter then all of the other men in my life. He must be about 5' 9". "You own this entire farm? Ambitious for a 19 year old," I smile.

"It is my sister's again… everything belongs to her," he laughs, "she is 36… I was a… surprise," he chuckled.

"Wow, I guess, with a age difference like that" I laugh.

"Alright," Frankie opened the door for me and Cooper, "can you hang out with the kid until I get the horses all inside?" he asked and I smile and give him a nod. I watch Frankie head off into the next field and then look to Cooper who is staring at me.

"Hi," he said looking up at me with a big grin.

"Hi," I reply and chuckle at his expression, "your uncle seems like a fun guy."

"He is a cop, he has a gun in a locked drawer in his bedroom closet that he uses to shoot the bad guys with," Cooper says, proudly.

"Wow," I reply, "I bet you must feel really safe living here with your Uncle Frankie," I reply and he nods. "Your mommy must really appreciate having him around to keep you safe from those bad guys too," I reply.

"My mommy is sick but she is going to get better and come live here again and when she does Uncle Frankie will go back to New Orleans. I want him to stay here," he says.

"I can see why," I smile when he jumps at the next crack of thunder and runs into the living room and sits in front of the t.v.

"Alright, horses are inside," he said coming in with his hair all wet and he shakes off the rain a little.

"Awww… t.v is busted," Cooper huffed.

"It's raining, Coop… seriously. Such a mistake getting that little dish… it looses reception when it rains," Frankie laughed and pulled out a chair for me at the table and I take a seat. I sit down with him. "What is the point of having a t.v you can only watch on beautiful days?"

"I know right," I chuckle and smile at him, looking into his speckled green eyes.

"So, where are you from?" he asked me which caught me off guard because I thought we were still talking about him. I find myself extraordinarily intrigued by him.

"Different places," I reply and he grins.

"Mysterious… where were you last?" he asked.

"Small town in Northern Ontario," I reply.

"Ah, Canada," he nodded, "beautiful country, unspoiled most of it."

"It's okay… long gloomy winters, though," I reply. It's what keeps my family hidden.

"This place must be hardly a difference then," he replied when the rain started to pound against the window.

"You're from New Orleans," I reply and his face drops and he laughs, "is my accent really _that_ bad?" he smiles.

"Yes," I reply, "that and Cooper told me," I smile when he looks relieved. "Tell me this," I continue because I don't need him asking more questions from me, "how did you end up here?" I ask.

"My sister got sick… after her husband passed away she has a bit of a break down," he replies and I feel bad for asking, now. "She's resting and I'm taking care of things here," he replied and opened up a candy dish in the centre of the table and pulled out a deck of playing cards. "Want to lose at a game of cards?"

"Oh… I see… you think you're good, then," I grin and take the deck and start to shuffle.

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	18. Promises

Jacob's POV

I shield Nessie from the rain using my jacket as we come up the steps and hurry inside of the Cullen's. Emmett bolts towards the steps and stops when he sees that it is us and he sighs, "damn."

"Sheesh, glad to see you too," Nessie smiles and then crosses her arms, "what's up?" I fold my jacket over my arm. The rain drops drips on the mat.

"I was hoping you were Emma, she hasn't come back yet from her walk and she left over two hours ago," he says, concerned.

"That's not like her, she would have hurried back once the rain started," Nessie said.

A million scenarios run through my mind about what could have happened to Emma and I feel worried. "I'm going to get the pack," I toss my jacket on the wrack.

"Edward and Bella are out looking for her, Carlisle is checking local hospitals and clinics. Alice and Jasper tried to track her scent but the rain washed it out with that stupid crap they put on the road to keep the dust from kicking up… we can't tell."

"Alright, hold on, hold on… has anyone tried her cell phone?" Nessie asks calmly.

"It's turned off," Emmett sighs, "it goes right to voice mail."

"Does she do this a lot?" I hear River from the hall and smile when I see my kid walk over to us without tripping of holding onto the wall.

"Do what?" Nessie asked him.

"Take off and make everyone worry like this? It's kind of bratty," he replied. I'd agree with that.

"Enough," Emmett said to River, "I know that you don't know Emma but she is an angel and if you say anything like that about her again I will…" Emmett bites his tongue.

I hear gravel crunching and I look outside the window to see a police cruiser coming up the drive. I feel my heart drop into my stomach with worry and I open the door and head outside to see who it is, hoping that it is just Charlie coming for a visit. Instead I see a young man open the door and go around to the other side and open the passenger side, helping Emma out. The two run up the porch out of the rain. I recognize the kid.

"Francis," I cross my arms.

"Good afternoon," he replies, "sorry if Emma worried anyone, I hadn't realized how long I had kept her," the boy said and I nod slowly… Hm, the cop that Nessie had mentioned whom Emma had charmed out of getting a ticket. I knew him through Charlie. His name is Francis Hart-Todd, he was in town taking care of his sister's farm after she went crazy.

"_Officer Heart-Throb_," Emmett said mockingly, "didn't I tell you to stay away from her?"

"Emmett, don't be rude," Emma said softly under her breath. "Frankie and I were just playing cards and lost track of time.

"She's still fifteen, you know," Emmett mumbled.

"Nice to meet you," Nessie said pushing me and Emmett away from the kid, "I'm Emma's… big sister," Nessie grinned.

"Nice to meet you too," he replied, "I'm sorry again if I caused any trouble."

"No… not at all," Nessie said, "thank you so much for making sure that Emma got home _safely_," Nessie said glaring a little at Emmett. "The child in the car is getting bored," Nessie laughed when she pointed to the cruiser's window going up and down.

"Yep… that he is," Frankie smiled and looked around at the little group of spectators examining him, "I'll see you around, Emma," he said and pecked her on the cheek. I hear a tiny growl from Emmett and watch as Frankie heads back to the car and starts to back out of the drive. Emmett slams the door shut once everyone is inside.

"What the _hell_ is wrong with _you_?" Emmett says suddenly, "you scared the hell out of us, everyone is out looking for you."

"I'm sorry," Emma defends, "I didn't mean to, I couldn't get any reception on my phone and when I discovered that I asked Frankie to take me home—by the way, you could be nicer to him, he is a very nice guy."

"Yeah—he's a very nice pedophile, you mean," Emmett replied.

"He is 19, I am 15… I don't understand the big deal, considering that age differences by years between couples in this house hold ranges into the 100s! Besides the point we are just friends, nothing more." Emma glared.

"He wants more then to just be a friend," Emmett growled.

"I know him, he's a good kid," I cut in and then watch Emma and Emmett glare at me at the same time.

"I'm not looking for _your_ approval. I'm still seeing Jesse whether you like it or not," Emma says and storms off up the steps.

"You both have got her so screwed up I don't know whether to kill you or those two boys," Emmett said once Emma was out of earshot.

"Excuse me?" Nessie crosses her arms, "how so?"

"Don't put the blame on them, if she is screwed up it is not because of anything they did," River jumps into the argument.

"Oh my god, River. Shut up! Everyone just shut up!" Jasper is suddenly standing at the door beside Edward and we all turn to look at him. A group of arguing children being caught by an adult. "Do you have any idea how much turmoil is radiating from this house since that girl discovered that she is the reason that everyone's life is chaotic and broken? You want to blame her, River? Well, she blames herself so you're just rubbing it in. You're so all concerned with what she is doing that no one has asked how she is feeling! _Get out of bed—eat something—go shopping—don't see this person—don't act like this—be like that,"_ Jasper shakes his head, mocking us. "No wonder she is wasting away with all the energy all of you are taking from her to try and fix this situation that _you_," Jasper said pointing to me, "brought on yourself. Fix it."

"I'm going to have to trust Jasper on this, I cannot get a reading on that girl," Edward replied.

"It's not that easy," I roll my eyes.

River lets out a little groan and sits down on the steps, watching us all argue.

"Oh no?" Edward asked, "you," he pointed to Emmett, "get off her back about the police kid—the last thing she needs right now is _less_ friends. You," Edward pointed to River, "try being a brother and you, Jacob. Stop being such a coward," Edward stared at us.

"He's right," I finally say after silence, "I'm… I'm going to go up there and try to talk to her."

"I think that's a bad idea," Emmett mumbled.

"Yeah well you know what? I don't care what you think," I snarl at him.

"Hey, hey… guys," Jasper says trying to play ref but the argument was already to heated.

"I know her better then you and she wants to be left alone right now until she cools off," Emmett snaps at me.

"Jesus," Nessie sighed and sat down next to River on the steps.

"What do you think? I ask Nessie and watch her look around the room at us.

"I think that either way I'm going to have someone mad at me so I am just going to keep my mouth shut and let the pieces land," Nessie replies… great, thanks.

"I'm going to talk to her," I sigh and walk up the steps through the small space between River and Nessie.

"I'm warning you, it's a bad idea. I know and Emma and she-," I cut Emmett off right there because I need him to stop trying to over throw my judgment.

"Emmett, I am her father! _Not you._ Go play daddy somewhere else to _someone_ else," I snap at him and watch his face glare at me, and his nostrils flair. He stands there growling at me for a long moment before snapping and throwing his fist through a wall, shaking the house. He speeds out the door and into the forest before anyone can stop him.

"That was cold," Edward said with his arms crossed. I look down to Nessie who has her face in her hands and then she looked up at me.

"Nessie, I-."

"Don't… I'm angry with you right now," Nessie sighed and got up, walking down the hallway and into Carlisle's study. Perfect. I sigh and head up the stairs anyways and try and see if I can get through to her at all.

I walk down the hallways to the bedroom that Emma was living in. I stand in front of the door for possibly a good 15 minutes trying to think of what I am going to say to her but nothing comes to mind so I just decide to bite the bullet and I knock on the door.

The door is not shut all the way so when I knock, it opens and I look inside and see Emma sitting on a blue window bench with a pen, scribbling in a large green notebook.

"What are you doing?" I ask her softly, hoping she doesn't throw me out.

"Writing a poem," she mumbled.

"You like writing poetry?" I ask her, trying to keep the conversation light as I hang out in the door way.

"It's not a hobby," she replied, "sometimes the mood hits and I hear some beautiful words and want to write it down," she says and I nod, I'm not really sure how to reply. A long silence takes place, "I haven't forbidden you from coming in, you know," she says and I stand straight and walk inside and look around at what she has in here. A lot of loose paper, I see three different types of violins and a guitar in the corner that looks hand painted. "You don't need my permission," she mumbled.

"For what?" I am confused.

"To be with Nessie," she replied and I am a little shocked at what I am hearing, "you don't have to try and talk to me or have a relationship or even be in the same room… just… go be with her. I am not stopping you."

"You misunderstand me," I reply and she looks up from the notebook, "I'm not here to ask your permission to be with Nessie. I want to talk to you," I say and watch her eyebrow rise for a moment and she puts down her notebook.

"Frankie and I are just friends," she rolls her eyes, "not that it is any of your business… as for Jesse, I like him a lot and we are going out some time this week whether you like it or not. You're not my father," she says and I frown.

"I am actually," I reply and she chuckles briefly. A chuckle that reminds me of how Edward and Nessie both laugh when they think they have _bested_ you.

"You are a donor… _thank you_ for servicing my mom… my dept to you has been paid," she says and I can't help but smirk a little… now I _know_ she is my kid.

"Very clever," I say and sit down on the edge of her bed so I can face her on the window bench. "I can understand you being angry with me."

"I'm not angry," she replies quickly and I open my mouth to tell her otherwise but she continues, "I'm hurt," she sighs and I close my mouth feeling a little sick. "You shut me out, cast me aside and betrayed my mother. You don't like me… you don't even know me," she says. "Honestly, I don't even know if I want to know you."

"You don't know?" I reply. So there is a chance that she wants to know me?

"I'm scared to."

"You don't have to be afraid of me," I reply quickly.

"Don't I? You already hurt me once. You can do it again," she says, "I'm not well enough to have my heart broken. It'll probably kill me," she says… Nessie wasn't lying about this drama queen business. Then again she looked like death, small and fragile. Her eyes were a little sunken in and her collarbone was sticking out sharply.

"What if I promise?" I ask her.

"Your promise means nothing to me—you promised my mother forever," she said quickly. Too much Edward in this one.

"Alright, then I promise not to give up trying," I reply to her stubbornness. I have a lot to prove and a lot to make up for.

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	19. The wolf experience

River's POV

After feeling as though I have spent too much time at the Cullen's it feels good to be back on the res. Paul and Rach are having the roof repaired after they found a leak and some mold so they are staying with Becky and Eli. Leah offered to let us stay with her. I kind of feel uncomfortable with this situation because I don't really know how everyone is going to react to me. I was this scrawny short blind kid and now I am huge and can see possibly more clear then anyone. Thankfully I am not as tall as dad… his height is a bit awkward to the rest of non-giant society.

"Let me look at you," Leah said standing on her toes just a bit and held my face in her hands, "yep… gorgeous—he's in our pack, right?" she asked Jacob. I chuckle and she let go of my face.

"He is," Dad confirmed.

"Yes!" he said and jumped once. "Finally, getting some new members, we've been out numbered for far too long."

"Yeah well don't get too excited," Dad said grabbing an apple from the kitchen island and sat on the stool, "Jesse turned a couple of days ago too," he said taking a bite and crossed his arms.

"What? When did this happen? Why wasn't I told about this?" she asked, upset.

"I think you are all missing the big picture here," Kalan said and we all look towards the professor.

"Care to share?" Nessie asked standing at the door with Emma. I sigh, great… why'd she bring _her?_

"Hi, Ness," Kalan smiled, "… what I was just saying is that obviously for some reason more wolves are being summoned… shouldn't that indicate that there is danger?"

"All that indicates, honey, is that the Cullens _won't_ move!" Leah rolled her eyes. "Now explain how this white-bread blondie is Jacob's kid?" she said eyeing Emma who shuffled a little bit, uncomfortably.

"I already explained that to you," Dad replied.

"I know… I just don't believe you," Leah said.

"I'd really rather stay with the Cullen's, Nessie," Emma said after a long silence and everyone staring.

"You can stay here," Leah said quickly, "sorry if I offended you."

"Pft," I exhale and feel my dad smack my arm. Emma gives me a little frown but she doesn't say anything.

"I don't want to intrude, it's not as if I really know anyone around here," she said and looked up to Nessie.

"Do you want to stay with Charlie?" she asked. "It's not far from here, stay for dinner and if you still don't want to hang around then you can go to Charlie's… Come help me get dinner out of the car," Nessie said to Emma and they both left.

Dad, smacks my arm again, "hey!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? Be nice to her, she is new here and doesn't have any friends—scratch that… only has two annoying friends. If you haven't noticed she is recovering from being sick so the least you can do is try to be half decent.

I roll my eyes, "fine... if you ask me she is a bit of a brat."

"Yeah well, River, no one asked you," he replied and I roll my eyes.

"Whatever," I sigh; I wonder how long this is all going to last, "is Misty around?" I ask Leah.

"She went on a road trip with Candice and Jerry," Leah said, "Thought she might have told you that," Leah said. I guess I could expect that from Misty. She often edited her activities in front of me. Trying to make life with vision less exciting. Last summer I didn't find out until October that she has gotten her drivers license and was learning how to rock climb.

"I'm going to go for a walk," I say after everyone went about his or her own business.

"Alright, don't get lost," my dad teases and I smile a little heading outside and start to walk around the res, drinking in all the sights. Wondering how many people I know. I wouldn't be able to tell.

I wander down the road looking at all the houses on either side. I know relatively where I am. I stare down further and see water… the ocean. I had never seen what it looked like before I hurry down to the shore and look at the endless water before me. I sit down on a piece of driftwood and start at the water until the moonlight begins to reflect off of it. I am completely transfixed by it's appearance. Each wave and ripple makes the moon dance in the water and it has got to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life… thus far. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I open the flip phone and put it to my ear.

"Hello?" I answer, still watching the water dance.

"What the hell, man, you've been out for hours," my dad says.

"Oh… sorry, I hadn't realized. I'm just down at the beach," I reply, "I'll be back soon," I mumble and hear people talking behind me. I turn to look to see who it is but I don't recognize their voices or faces. They're just a couple strolling down the beach at night with their arms locked around each other. I smile a little for them. They look really happy… not lonely or empty, which is what I have been feeling lately… like something is missing. Like everything grew accept for my heart which stayed the same size and now I have this big empty space there.

"Are you still there?" he asked.

"On second thought, don't wait up," I reply and close the phone and scoot off of the driftwood and lay down on the sand. My mind wanders for a good long chunk of time before I drift off. I don't wake again until I see the sun coming up and am stunned by how beautiful it looks against the water. I gather myself and start to head back to Leah's house and on my way there I see Emma sitting on the hood of a rusty blue pickup struck with a tall man, they look pretty cozey. He leans down and meets her half way in a kiss and I turn my head away. Gross. Like I need to see that.

"If it isn't Forest," the boy mumbles after breaking his lip lock with my long-lost-sister. I grind my teeth.

"Jesus Christ… Jesse," I shake my head, recognizing his voice and stop, looking at the two, "you have horrible taste in men," I say to Emma who just shrugs.

"I guess I'm lucky that your opinion doesn't mean anything to me," she says.

"That's good," Jesse replies, "River, here doesn't seem to like me very much."

"I kicked you ass once and I can do it again… this time with both eyes open," I smirk at him and he clears his throat.

"I have no desire to fight with you," Jesse said, "I don't want to upset Emma."

"You beating up this guy wouldn't upset me," Emma replies.

"Hey! What did I ever do to you?" I frown at Emma.

"All you do is roll your eyes at me and whisper judgmentally," she replied, "the question is _what_ have _I _ever done to _you?"_ Emma throws at me.

"Besides breaking up my family and possibly causing my blindness?" I throw back at her, "all you ever do is take and if it weren't for you we'd all be a lot happier," I shoot at her. For some reason I can't seem to help myself, I _want_ to hurt her feelings and even as the words are coming out of my mouth I feel horrible for it.

"Screw this!" Emma says getting up and I expect her to walk by me in a huff but instead I am met with a steal fist against my mouth and I am floored. I stare up at her, I don't believe it, the little brat punched me! And I'm floored.

"Oh shit!" Jesse laughed which made me angry and my blood started to boil.

"You shouldn't have done that," I snarl at her.

"I'm not afraid of you," she said which ticks me off even more and my hands shake. I try to stay calm but I cannot and before I can stop myself from seeing red I explode from my skin into my wolf form and tower over the skinny, blonde, brat. She just looks up at me, completely unafraid even though I could crush her in an instant. My gaze refocuses past her and I am staring into the furious eyes of another wolf, Jesse. I snarl at him. I cannot hear him for he is in another pack but by the way he nudges Emma behind him I can see that he is not going to let me near Emma which is for the best because I will kill her.

Jesse growls at me and I stare back at him ready to rip his head off when I see out of the corner of my eye another wolf. _River, run off… right now._ It is my father's inner voice he stands next to Jesse, guarding Emma. I want to rip her head off as badly as I want anything right now but I have an equivocal need to obey and I feel my neck muscle clench as if his disapproval physically shocks me. A small whimper escapes my throat and I turn and run off into the wood.

_More soon, comment review! ^^_


	20. Confrontation

**Nessie's POV**

"I said SIT down!" I scold River and Emma as they both just glare at each other, "I can take both of you so don't even try it," I cannot believe what Jacob told me. River could have killed Emma and Emma was just putting herself in the position to get killed.

"Fine!" River and Emma say at the same time and sit down at Leah's large wooden table as far away from each other sat possible. Jacob watched from across the kitchen but I promised him that I would deal with this.

"What is it going to take for you two to get along?" I ask. I am baffled at how much hatred these two have for each other.

"I have no desire to get along with River," Emma replies, "in fact, I'd very much like it to go back to the way things were before I knew he existed."

"Same here," River replies and I huff. Parenting sucks.

"Wow, we agree on something," Emma mumbled. I shake my head and look to Jacob for help. He finally steps forward. So much for me handling this.

"Listen," he said with authority in his voice, "River, from the moment you found out that you had a sister you have been nothing but judgmental and condescending. You want to blame someone for breaking up the family then you blame me. Emma is struggling with her health and trying to fit into a world that she was kept from and you are not making it easy for her at all."

"Oh sure," River rolls his eyes at Jake, "take _her_ side."

"River I am giving you orders!" Jake's voice is suddenly a tad bit husky and I watch River hunch over a little bit at the disapproval of his father/pack leader.

"… understood," River grumbles.

"And for you," he said to Emma. Emma glared back up at him, fearlessly. She is not ruled by the moon as he is and therefore his authority has no control over her. "…. Really? Jesse?" Jacob huffed.

"Oh my god," I roll my eyes, " Jacob, I told you not to go there," I warn him. He will just push her right into the boy's arms his he disapproves.

"I like him," Emma replied, "if you have a problem with that then I suppose you can just shove it up your—."

"Emma!" I scold and she rolls her eyes. "The two of you are going to learn to get a long because your father and I want to try and make this family work."

"Oh… I see… So I get thrown out like a piece of trash because big foot here," Emma points to Jake as she stands to confront me, "doesn't think I'm blood-related enough to be in the same room as -River and you just come crawling back because a DNA test confirms that _oopsy_ he made and mistake?" Emma is understandingly angry but she doesn't know the history between Jake and I.

"Emma, please, it's not like that," I say softly.

"No, I see how it is… you made your choice."

"I'm not choosing them over you, there is no one being chosen over the other here, Emma" my voice is panicked, I was afraid that Emma would come to this conclusion and I had even voiced my concerns to Jacob about this. "I'm doing this because it is what we need… what we all need"

"You're doing this because it's what _you need_… which is apparently something to wrap your legs around," Emma hisses at me with so much disrespect that I have never heard her use in my life. My hand flies freely at her face before I can realize and I stand there shocked as she is.

She brings her hand up to touch—what I can only imagine is—tender, tingling skin on her cheek. I open my mouth to beg her forgiveness but she puts her hand up and walks out the door.

"Emma!" I call out to her and then put both of my hands over my face. "Fuck…" I can't believe I get did that. I glance up to look at Jake who is watching me sympathetically. River isn't looking at me… he is looking down at his hands, studying them… avoiding my gaze. I feel terrible.

"Nessie–" Jake begins but I walk past him, into the bathroom where I can be alone. I always criticized everything Edward did as a father. The over-protectiveness and the 'I-know-best' attitude… but I never gave him enough credit. Parenting is hard. I always though 'I'd never do this' or 'I'd never do that' and yet here I am… creating a new generation of 'what not to do's'. I feel perfectly content to stay in this tiny bathroom all night however I know it is not very realistic.

I grab a towel from the cupboard and fold it up under my head as I lean down on the floor and close my eyes, letting the warm tears fall over my cheeks and listen to the rain make pitter-patter noises on the window.

**(Hello everyone—it's been a long while and I have a lot to report. Every year I come back in the summer months between school and write this story and religiously update. I want to get back into the swing of things. So please review and let me know your thoughts. I want to write this story on into the year and not just the summer and now that school is all finished for me I believe that I should be able to.) **


	21. Truce

River's POV

My dad goes to the door of the bathroom and tries to coax my mother out with no avail. I feel terrible. I know that no matter what my dad will always be on my side. I have never felt rejected or neglected despite my mother not living with us with little explanation while I was growing up. I always felt loved and taken care of.

Now I learn of Emma and I act like a … a person who is not good—for lack of a better word for it, though I am sure that Emma can think of a few. She grew up within the sheltered eyes of the Cullen's and treated like a dirty little secret. I almost attacked her tonight and thought of how good it'd feel to claw her to death but when I watched my mother slap her face I felt oddly protective and now I feel a little ashamed that I didn't stand up or say anything.

It's not like we're friendly or anything but I was always taught to never strike a lady… what are the rules on intervening on other women who strike each other? I stand up from the table and walk out the screen door and glance around the area… I don't have to pretend that I don't know where she went… where else would she go after being slapped? The forbidden boyfriend's house…

I sigh and drag my feet along to trail until I reach Jesse Uley's front door and walk up the drive and onto the porch. I am about to knock but can see that it is just Jesse and Emma in there. Jesse is gently holding ice to Emma's tear stained face as the two sit together on the couch. I open the screen door and walk in. Jesse immediately growls at my but I put my hands up submissively.

"I'm only here to make sure that Emma is alright," I admit.

"What do you care?" she mumbles… yeah I guess I deserve that.

"I don't… I mean… ugh… look, just because we're not best friends does not mean that I think it is cool that mom hit you like that. I'm sorry for how she reacted and I am sorry that I could have hurt you earlier," I reply and watch as she inspects me with here blue eyes as if she is searching for the sincerity in my voice and expression. "It would mean a lot to mom if you'd come home and work things out."

"Rover," Jesse mispronounces my name for the millionth time, "look, I don't know how things operate under your roof but when my girlfriend shows up on my doorstep in tears with a swollen face from being beaten by a parent, I don't send her back home to _'work things out' _you know," he replies and I cock a brow… right. He is making it sound like mom went full on ape-shit of her and beat her to a pulp. Emma got slapped.

"Oh yeah… what do you do?" I ask out of curiosity.

"Call the police," he replies and my eyes bulge a bit in disbelief until I see the door swing open and a young man in uniform walks in. He isn't very tall compared to us and he has sandy blonde hair. He looks to Emma with a frown of concern.

"Emma, what happened?" he rushed to her and kneeled down in front of her.

"Jesse, I told you not to," Emma sighed, "I'm sorry, Frankie. Jesse should not have called you for this."

"My girlfriend gets hit and I am supposed to do nothing?" Jesse said. Frankie glanced back to Jesse.

"You two are dating?" He asks Jesse and then looks to Emma.

"Yeah… what's it to you?" Jesse glares.

"Nothing… just figured we've been friends long enough that you'd tell me you were seeing someone… never mind then, jeez," Frankie said and then looked back to Emma Longley… oh Jesus… this cop-kid has a thing for her to? I don't get it!

"I'm sorry that Jesse called you—I'm fine. I don't want to press charges," Emma replies as Jesse puts ice back to her face. "It's nothing serious."

"Are you sure?" Frankie asks and Emma nods quietly. "Alright, but I still have to write a report," he replied and took out a pen. "Explain what happened."

"It's nothing, I got into an argument with my… uh… my sister, Nessie," Emma maintains, masquerading our parents as our siblings is something that we often have to do when talking to outsiders. "I said some things, she said some things and I got slapped."

"You called me out here for a sibling squabble?" Frankie glances at Jesse.

"Dude, look at her face," Jesse said, carefully pulling the ice away from Emma's jaw to reveal red swollen flesh that was starting to form a deep purple colouring.

"Yours sister has a good right hand on her, doesn't she," Frankie said sympathetically. "Listen, Emma, if this happens again or if you are scared or if there is more to this story then you are letting on and you need someone to talk to… well, you know where I can be reached."

Emma nodded, "thank you Frankie, but really, I am fine," Emma said and I watched as the young cop closed his note pad and looked to Jesse.

"I'll walk you out," Jesse replied and headed out the door with Frankie. I stood in silence with Emma for a little bit until she finally spoke up.

"I'm okay, you can go now," she said softly and took the ice off of her face with a wince.

"Maybe we should just try and get along. We're twins… aren't we supposed to have some sort of connection?" I ask and watch her huff with a smirk.

"Other then deep hatred?" she asks. Ouch.

"I don't hate you."

"Well I hate you. You know, my life was going just fine until I found out about you. The only reason I don't know who you are is because everyone around here is repulsed by me. Everyone but Jesse. I see people looking at me and whispering."

If I were to tell her that she was exaggerating then I'd be lying. "Then I guess you cannot afford to make more enemies… truce?" I hold out my hand for her but she just looks at it. "Please don't make this harder then what it is," I groan at her stubbornness.

"Fine… but this doesn't mean that I am going back to that house to be with mom and Jacob. I have no desire to be one big happy family with those people," she said, taking my hand momentarily and then dropping it.

"Fair enough," I reply.

"Emma, are you okay?" Jesse asks, coming back into the house.

"Yeah, I'm fine. River was just leaving. It's okay that I stay the night, right Jesse?" She asks. I look to Jesse, his eyes become unfocussed for a moment and then he smiles at her and nods.

"Of course you can."

What the hell was that? Did she just put the voodoo on him? Dad had warned me that Emma had a gift that involved manipulating other's behaviour but I have never seen it in action before. I am a little big scared but mostly impressed.

**Please comment! Let me know what you think of the direction the story is heading in… More to come soon.**


	22. Road Trip

(Let me know if you get tired of River's POV but I kind of like writing in his voice)

River's POV

I try to sneak out of the house before anyone is up. I kind of want to avoid meeting my mom or dad after what happened last night. Dad catches me so I tell him that I am going to check on Emma and he seems pleased. The truth is that Misty is supposed to come back into town today from her little road trip to load up on supplies so I am going over to Sam's house to surprise her with my miracle sight.

When I walk through the front door however the only people I see are Jesse and Emma sitting at the table playing cards as Sam and Emily pull out of the drive.

"Where is Misty at?" I ask and sit down at the table with the two who take a few moments to even notice I am here.

"She's not coming back," Jesse said casually. I feel my stomach sink.

"What? Why? Where is she?" I feel anxious.

"Relax, Rover," Jesse rolled his eyes, "she's an adult now… can do what ever she wants. If she'd rather travel around with her guitar and sing in dirty bars than go to college then that is her business."

"That is what she is doing?" I am shocked, I had never heard Misty sing and I had no clue that she was interested in music. Though, our friendship had unraveled the last couple of years when she started hanging around with see-folk. Now that my vision had returned—or rather been blessed on me as I only ever remember seeing some colours and shapes as a young child before everything turned completely black.

"Yep… and dad is pissed," Jesse replied. "He said he is going to go to California and drag her right back home, make her enroll for another year of high school until she can apply for college again next year."

"Oh… good," I reply before I realize it.

"Good? She's getting the hell out of this town and doing what she loves… how can forcing her to stay and then do something against her will be good?" Emma asked putting her cards down.

Before I can reply Jesse jumps in, "he has a big crush on my sister."

I feel my cheeks tingle and it is a good thing that my dark skin is too tan from the last few days of sun we had to appear red.

"She is my friend. I don't like her being off by herself," I reply quickly. "There are enough crazies in our small community, I'd hate to think of the loons in the cities."

"Yeah… sure." Emma said. "I'd love to go to California. Get the hell out of here for a bit," Emma said, "Everyone is always on my back."

"California is pretty far," Jesse smiled at her ridiculous request.

"So?" Emma smiled at him, "I bet you could run there in a day," she smirked.

"No… I'm not _that_ easy," he replied and put his cards down. He's lucky she isn't working her voodoo on him or else he's be already running south. The phone rings and Jesse gets up to answer it.

"I saw what you did last night, does it work on everyone?" I ask Emma… Her eyes narrow in on me.

"I don't know what you are talking about," she says in a breezy voice and flips her hair nonchalantly. I raise my brow… yeah—that was convincing.

"River, it's for you—your dad must have you were hear," he shrugged and tossed the cordless at me.

"Hello?" The line is crackly so I stand up and try to walk around but have to go outsite. I am really hoping it is Misty.

"River?" I frown as I hear a voice that is static.

"Who is this? I cannot hear you." I sigh and keep walking but the line must be bad on her end. I can just tell that it is a girl and she sounds a bit like Misty but I cannot be sure.

"I need your help," she says and I frown.

"Misty?" I ask.

"No, it's Penny… Please come get me. I cannot stay here anymore," she says and I listen in closer. Of course it is Penny. Duh… I am a bit disappointed.

"How can I come and get you?" I chuckle, she doesn't know I can see but still I am not going to break her out of 'fat-camp'.

"Uncle Jacob told me you can see—you can come get me. Please," she pleads with me.

"Sweetie, your mother and father spent good money to try and help you out. You'll just have to stick it out and put on a brave face and before you know it, the summer will be over and you'll be back here again with me and your parents but you'll feel better and have lots of friends to write to," I smile, I can just imagine her puffy little face all pouty. Dad showed me some pictures of Penny. She is a cute little girl—I think it was a bit extreme for her parents to send her away for a bit of baby fat. However, I am bias because I love her so much, she is my baby sister even if she technically is my cousin.

"River, I left the camp three days ago," she says and my heart leaps in immediate fear…. What!

"You did what? Where are you calling from?" I freak out and rightly so.

"A pay phone, I've been trying to walk back but I got lost. I am in some place called White Planes," she said.

"White Planes? Jesse? Where is White Planes?" I call out and Jesse appears on the front porch.

"White Planes? That's all the way near Spokane," he replies, "why?"

I don't answer him, "how the hell did you get all the way out there—please don't tell me you hitch-hiked, your parents are going to kill you."

"I figured as much… that is why I called you. Please I need you help, River. I'm running out of time for this call. I am at the motor in on a steet called Chestnut."

"Alright, fine… just… sit tight," I sigh and hang up the phone. Great… how am I going to get all the way out there? I have never driven a day in my life and it'd be easier to run in wolf form but if I do that my dad will find out and then Paul will know.

"What wrong?" Emma asked coming out of the porch. Jesse puts an arm around her.

"River needs to go to White Planes," Jesse said to Emma.

"Oooh.. is that in California?" Emma asked with her eyes sparkling.

"No," I reply, "I have to figure something out. How the hell am I going to get there?"

"Jesse will drive you," Emma volunteered her boyfriend.

"I will?" he grunts.

"Please… I need out of here for a bit… please?" she said looking into his eyes… I watch his focus glass over and then he snaps out of it, with a smile.

"Alright, lets go," he said taking out his keys.

I cannot believe it—she did it again… Whatever works… I need to get to Penny. She is in soooo much trouble.


End file.
